The Legend of Spyro: a Duel with Destiny
by 4Dragons
Summary: Spyro and Cynder, the dragons of legend. The power of the purple and black dragons is unmatched, but all power comes with a price and dark days are ahead for our two heroes. Three years after the events of DoTD Cynder returns to the dragon city, and to Spyro. But all is not well in the dragon world. Now Cynder and Spyro must face their most brilliant foe yet... and their own fates.
1. Back in Black

_The sun was setting over the city, its dying light tainted the low clouds a deep bloody red. A dragon stood upon a rooftop garden, facing the west, still as a stone statue. The sun faded, night rose, the stars were hidden by deep black clouds._

 _A storm was brewing. Rain lashed the city, lightning split the sky, at each flash the dragon was revealed, still standing in its place. A few late dragons arrived at the city that night, something momentous was meant to happen tomorrow. A freezing hour passed, the dragon did not move, a second hour went by, then more followed until at last midnight approached. The storm tore itself into oblivion and silence reigned. Midnight was a fine time for dark business, but the dragon on the rooftop still let the time go by._

 _At last in the third hour of the morning a shadowy figure descended from the roof and followed the grand spiral staircase down. Four dragons took the stairs in the minutes after three AM but no meeting took place and no alarm was raised. The dragon continued its silent journey._

 _A traitor waited at the foot of the stairs, after a deep bow they led the dragon into the depths of the city. Two guards on either side of a door lay still and silent, dead or unconscious the dragon neither knew nor cared. Down to the vaults of the city, the traitor stood to guard the door, like the original guards had, albeit in a more successful fashion. Chests locked by powerful magic ground open as the dragon passed. The contents of two of these chests would not be found in the morning. A crystal trapped in a prison of black iron, and a pair of snake charms, such as might be put around the necks of a pair of young dragons…_

 _The traitor looked into the vault after several quiet minutes had passed, it was empty. They entered the room and looked over the chests. As they carefully took the item the dragon had left behind they were struck with a disturbing feeling, perhaps the room was not as empty as it appeared. With a shiver of fear the traitor returned to their own sleeping chamber, sleep did come, but they were tormented by nightmares until dawn._

* * *

 **Earlier that day:**

Cynder the black dragon, former terror of the skies, twisted under the monster's furious attack. With the ease of long practice she danced behind it and struck out with her long bladed tail. She should have cut skin, and the elemental poison in her strike should have ended the fight then, but that wasn't going to happen. This was an elite troll and it wore a mask of earthy green, that mask had saved it when the creature known as The Destroyer had destroyed the world. The world hadn't quite been properly destroyed, it hadn't even been destroyed very well, but that's what had happened: almost three years ago, the world was destroyed.

Cynder's wings spread and she skipped gracefully over the troll's back, her agility made her untouchable. The troll seemed untouchable too, only earth elemental attacks would knock that mask off.

"Spyro!" Cynder cried, but no purple dragon came to her aid.

She had lost him.

Cynder felt her eyes fill with tears and blinked them back angrily; she shouldn't have been crying, it wasn't like Spyro was even _dead._ She just hadn't been able to keep him. That hurt her feelings and her pride more than Cynder would ever willingly admit. Cynder nearly paid for her lack of attention, the troll's gnarled fist missed her by inches. Cynder rose and hovered above the beast like a hawk, her manipulation of the wind made the action seem weightless and effortless. She glanced around looking for a way to win her battle. A nearby cliff held possibilities, as she taunted the monster over to the cliff, antagonizing it with gusts of wind and Siren Screams, Cynder couldn't help but think of the past.

The three months that followed the defeat of the purple dragon Malefor and the "end" of the world had been the best of Cynder's not very nice life. She and Spyro, connected by a chain of magic and their shared love, exploring the new world, playing and celebrating, fighting the hapless remnants of the evil dragon's army and sleeping together under the stars.

Cynder could have lived like that forever.

* * *

It was Spyro's sense of duty that drew them back to the Dragon Temple, where they had been just eggs, they had found it a ruin, destroyed in war and abandoned. Spyro had been saddened by its loss. The two of them had travelled, at Spyro's request, to the city of Warfang, which had been damaged but was not irreparable. Spyro's kind heart, Cynder loved him for it, but after three short months of happiness it was that which brought her back to the whispers, mutterings and cold disapproval that haunted Cynder in a way that Malefor's strongest magic never had.

Cynder thought she feared nothing, anyone who had seen her fight would agree, seeing her tearing into entire legions of murderous foes with Spyro by her side. Cynder had no fear of pain or battle, that was true, but what Cynder hadn't known was that she feared her fellow dragons.

She was beautiful, brave, clever and far more powerful, but Cynder was completely helpless against this new enemy. Cynder had been sure the magical chain that bound Spyro and her together would give her unshakable claim to Spyro's time and affection, but it took only days for some audacious dragon to turn that against her.

"Cynder is still evil; the Terror of the Skies is still a wicked demon dragon and puppet to Malefor. Only heroic Spyro is strong enough to restrain her, he keeps her as a slave and a paramour; she serves him like a pet. You don't believe me? Then tell me: Why are they chained together?"

Rumours were more powerful than even Cynder's fear magic, no amount of logical reasoning or outright denial from her or Spyro could wash away the taint this cast on their new relationship. Cynder knew that chain had to be removed, it had to be.

Spyro accepted this for her sake and after over a month of torturous whispering the magic was broken and the snake bands of the chain hidden in the vaults of Warfang. To Cynder's relief this did stop the rumours, but now that it was possible for her and Spyro to be apart from each other every dragon that had ever disapproved of her made certain they saw as little of each other as possible. Eventually Cynder had given up, she had run away, perhaps she would simply be a pariah, outcast, a shadow on the edge of the new world, forever alone. Perhaps that would be easier.

Travelling and fighting and sleeping under the stars, it just wasn't the same without Spyro, she dealt with it, moved on, but every now and then something would cruelly remind her of the life she had given up, Spyro.

How dare this troll wear an earthen mask? How dare it remind her of the dragon she cared for most in this world? Cynder dived from on high; black smoky flames engulfed the beast. Cynder slashed and kicked, determined to make the beast hurt as much as she had, it had no effect. Cynder's anger gave her strength; three years of growth had seen her grow to just under the size of a full grown dragon and develop into a beautiful young dragon, not unlike the image Malefor had created for her when she was the terror of the skies, feared the world over for her power. And she _was_ powerful _._ Cynder hooked her claws around the troll and screamed in anger and then she threw the both of them over the cliff.

Cynder's wings unfurled and she watched coldly as the troll plunged to the ground. The mask went flying from its monstrous face; clearly the impact with the earth below its feet was sufficient damage from the right source. Now it could be harmed. The troll was slowly getting up but that was fine as Cynder wasn't done yet.

The unfortunate elite enemy looked up just in time to see the entire cliff land on its head. Cynder relaxed as she floated down from on high, breathing deeply. Cynder landed on the pile of rubble in a spectacularly stylish manner, looking good was habit to her now.

Cynder made sure to look her best even when there was nobody around, except there was someone; a shadow flew overhead, a dragon. Cynder looked up, the dragon was silver and slim with delicate wings, a female, Cynder remained silent until she saw the choker around the new dragon's neck, it was a stylish piece of jewellery like the one Cynder had once worn. Now Cynder called a greeting. The dragoness landed before her.

"Hello Imperia." Cynder smiled.

Imperia's name did not suit her, she was not imperious at all, she was one of the very few dragons who had ever been truly kind to Cynder, strangely Volteer was the other.

Imperia was uniquely famous for her infamous non-uniqueness, Imperia had an identical twin sister Altia. Both were wind dragons and so alike that Imperia had taken to wearing her choker so that dragons could tell them apart. Cynder didn't usually need to see the choker, as Altia detested Cynder almost as much as Imperia cared for her, and one always looked kind while the other appeared to be permanently sucking on a lemon.

Cynder viewed Imperia as both a teacher in the extraordinary art of wind magic and as the mother figure the younger dragoness had never known or expected.

The two dragons stayed in contact, every two weeks they met at the ruined Dragon Temple, where they would spend a day together, taking a class, playing or just talking. Imperia had kept Cynder sane during her solitude.

Imperia was knowledgeable, graceful and seductive. She was also an excellent teacher, although according to her Cynder was just an excellent pupil. Imperia was also, Cynder was aware, a master at manipulating others. When Imperia wanted something she always got it.

"I want you to come back to Warfang." Imperia said.

Cynder didn't dismiss this entirely out of hand, but she wasn't impressed.

"Why?"

"Because being alone like this isn't good for you, Cynder."

"You should have brought this up two years ago, I can't just go crawling back now! If it was bad before, now it's all just going to be even worse. I won't beg to these dragons, I refuse to."

"I know, but if you can't bring yourself to return now then I'll bet that you never will, besides-"Imperia's mood brightened and she smiled mysteriously. "There's nothing better for fixing estrangement issues than a disaster."

"Estrangement issues?"

"An apt description I'd say."

"Estrangement issues. Hmm, fine, but how can a disaster fix this?"

"It's a classical scenario: A group of dragons, who don't like each other, such as a dysfunctional family, go on holiday, to a theme park maybe. While they're there a disaster happens, for example dinosaurs might rampage around and try to kill everyone."

"What's a dinosaur?"

"It's like a wingless dragon, they have no magic either, but they come in lots of different shapes and sizes."

"That doesn't sound very dangerous."

"That's beside the point. Anyway, dinosaurs attack, they eat "that guy", the one that nobody likes, everyone bands together to survive, together they solve the problem, escape the dinosaurs, have a heartwarming reunion scene and live happily ever after."

"I could take on a wingless dragon without magic any day. Is that what's happening, are these dinosaur things attacking Warfang?"

"What? No, they all died a really long time ago."

"Serves them right, what sort of dragon can't fly? It's hardly a dragon at all, more like a troll."

Cynder glanced down at the rubble beneath her feet.

"Forget dinosaurs, the point is that disasters bring people together, so now is the best chance we have to bring you back to Warfang."

"I don't care if dinosaurs do eat everyone, I'm not going."

Imperia sighed, this left her with either telling the whole truth or…

"Spyro wants you back."

"He what? Did Spyro say that, _my_ Spyro?" There wasn't another one around surely?

" _Your_ Spyro, Yes, All he does is train and train; he barely notices the attention of dragonesses his age. Only a few of us see him regularly now, and he demands that I tell him how you're faring every time I've come to see you. He misses you just as much as you miss him."

Cynder sighed.

"Which way is Warfang again?"

"North. Come on, I assume you don't have any things to get before we leave?"

Cynder shook her head.

"Excellent! I can give you a lesson on the way." Imperia smiled, Cynder smiled too, if reluctantly, and both dragons began the flight to Warfang; Spyro and a mysterious disaster were waiting for them.

* * *

 **Vaguely Important Thing:**

 **In later chapters this story has been improved as I've written it, and a few lines from early chapters were written back when I wasn't exactly clear about what was going on. Basically if something doesn't seem to match then just go with whatever was written in a later chapter.**

* * *

 **I have missed writing for this site. Granted the control interface isn't as user friendly as Wattpad's is (4Dragons is on Wattpad too), but the quality of the stories here is just brilliant.**

 **It's my sincere hope that this story does justice to what I've seen from other Spyro story authors on this site. It is also my sincere hope that you've enjoyed this story so far. I feel this chapter could use some improvement, but the later chapters just get better and better (claws crossed)**

 **I'd like to thank the people who "encouraged" me to publish this, I'd have never done it without you. You know who you are, and thanks.**

 **I'd also like to thank you for reading this, whoever you happen to be.**

 **Please review and/or PM me. The next chapter should be up immediately after this one, so read on and enjoy!**

 **-4Dragons**


	2. The Legendary Hero

**I said I'd post this immediately after the previous chapter... but I didn't.**

 **Sorry about that guys. On the plus side this story got SEVEN views in between chapter one and my next meeting with a computer screen. A bunch of offended/puzzled or slightly amused readers within four hours of Chapter One is a pretty good start! Thanks to all of you for reading!**

 **Story now!**

* * *

Cynder and Imperia had arrived at Warfang not long after the sun had set. Cynder had received a practical lesson in wind control as the rain began to fall and the storm to roll in; the wind ability to create a bubble of air free of rain, hail and other obstructions had certainly made the flight easier.

Warfang looked more foreboding than Cynder remembered from her last visit. The high city walls seemed sinister in the dim light, water streamed through the gutters, lightning silhouetted the city towers and Cynder could feel each rolling wave of thunder make a distinctive echo off the hard stone.

A larger number of guard dragons watched the land entrances to the city then Cynder remembered and Imperia had needed to identify herself to another guard before the two dragons had been allowed inside Warfang proper. Aside from this additional security Cynder had seen no particular disasters. Cynder slept in Imperia's chambers, but with the storm neither dragon slept very well.

* * *

"There's a disaster in Warfang? Is it the breakfast?" Cynder teased the next morning. The breakfast wasn't really all that bad, but there wasn't enough for two dragons, and Cynder had a surprisingly big appetite for her slender figure. Imperia had breakfast delivered to her tower chambers, but only breakfast for one dragon.

"Surely you're used to going hungry? Food is scarce on the borders of civilization" Imperia said.

"City dragons like to say that." Cynder mused "The truth is that there's lots of food in the wilderness… For any dragon who's good enough to find it." Cynder smiled.

"Wild food certainly agrees with you. And you've done well to stay presentable."

"What do you mean?"

"Cynder, you look very fetching."

"Oh, um, thankyou... You know it's not that hard to get by in the wild, I mean, a dragon can fly faster and hit harder than most of the creatures out there, also magic really helps in hunting. There are plenty of waterfalls to bathe under, so keeping clean is no problem."

"I think I prefer the city: conversation, heated baths, the library, students to teach. I'm not an outdoors dragon."

"Spyro…" Cynder quietly added the name to Imperia's list.

"Sorry? I missed that." Cynder thought for a moment before deciding to hurry the conversation along, this chatting stuff could take all day.

"Where's Spyro? Does he know I'm here?"

"No, but he-"

"But he wanted me to come?" Cynder pressed, Imperia hesitated.

"I know he'll be-"

Cynder's voice took on a steely tone. "Imperia please, don't evade my questions. Explain why you dragged me back here, quickly."

"Quickly? Fine then. In the Colosseum today, Spyro will fight to the death."

* * *

Spyro the purple dragon, hero of dragonkind, the savior of the entire world, stood at the center of the Colosseum, less than a hundred metres from where Cynder sat in the stands. He had grown like she had, Spyro was tall, lean and strong, and he looked proud and quietly confident. He had grown more handsome too, Cynder couldn't help thinking.

Even from her seat in the vast stands and surrounded by dragons, Cynder could practically sense the power within Spyro. He faced the huge Iron Gate patiently, waiting for it to open. A sound from behind that gate made him tilt his head, Cynder's heart skipped a beat, just for a moment Spyro looked shockingly like Malefor, the Dark Master, the long dead evil purple dragon. Nobody else seemed to see it, few people had ever seen Malefor and lived after all. The moment passed and Cynder looked around the Colosseum.

The crowd was mostly moles; Half of Warfang had turned out to watch the dragonfight, perhaps the only dragonfight some of them would ever see. They were packed tight and filled nearly three quarters the stands. The dragons, being much larger than the moles, took more space, and were fewer, but dragons had never been hugely numerous. Cynder noted that the moles had pressed away from a small contingent of dragons, who in turn were on the opposite side of the arena to the main group of dragons, they looked unfriendly. Cynder turned to Imperia, who was seated next to her.

"Who is Spyro fighting?"

Imperia, never content with a name when a history lesson would suffice, briefly explained what was going on and why. Cynder, of course, had been away and didn't know what was happening.

"Long ago dragon society was arranged differently, dragons grouped together according to skills. These were the Artisans, The dream catchers; they were weird ones, there were the beast makers and so on. Many of these dragon factions became unnecessary as time went on, eventually dragon society was re-organised into the elemental structure of today.

"The Peacekeepers were caught up in a battle with the Old Fire Dragons and eventually lost their homes and their lives. Cliff town, city of the Peacekeepers, has been under Old Fire control ever since. The city was renamed Shattershelf. It has been rebuilt into an impenetrable fortress; it has never been taken by an enemy, or even successfully infiltrated.

"We never proved that the Shattershelf dragons gave aid to The Apes on the night of the dragon temple raid, when your egg was captured by the Dark Master, but the Old Fire Dragons had long held a truce with our enemy. After Malefor was defeated we believe that their city was practically undamaged. The Fire dragons struck us in the first year after that, and dragonkind has been at war ever since."

Cynder absorbed this information, it didn't answer her question but it was interesting.

"How has the war gone? And who is Spyro fighting?"

"The actual war has stalled; dragon war usually has few casualties. As you know dragons can take an extraordinary amount of punishment with little permanent damage, or scales deflect most physical attacks and our bones are strong enough to withstand even direct hits from giant monsters like The Golem. As the dragon fighters on each side are evenly matched nobody has been able to gain the advantage. Only Ignitus, being the fire guardian, commanded the respect needed to try diplomacy, when he died we lost our best chance of stopping this war. Flare, the new fire guardian, is skilled enough-

Imperia stopped and laughed slightly.

"Okay she's amazing actually and I'm a huge fan of hers, but she hasn't even been given a chance to parlay with the Fire. The leader of the fire dragons claimed he was insulted by her attempt and invited her or her champion to a fight to the death. Spyro volunteered himself to face the dragon leader in combat."

"Spyro would never let another dragon die here."

"No, Spyro is famous for never hiding from a fight, and he's legendary because he always wins."

"That sounds like Spyro."

"Spyro has become truly powerful, the strength of a purple dragon is remarkable and he isn't even fully grown yet. The bad news is that he's up against one of the only dragons who may be powerful enough to beat him."

"Who is this dragon? And why, if he has a whole army of possible champions, will he fight Spyro himself?"

"His name is Magmar, he is the dragon who fought in the Ice and Fire wars for fifty years, after they had gone on for two hundred, and ended them with fire's victory, some say singlehandedly. He's one of the only dragons to ever reach mastery of two elemental powers. His earth element is the result of pure determination, but not his most dangerous. He is a lethal close combat fighter and he is perhaps the greatest fire dragon we've seen in a hundred years. Easily the equal of Ignitus."

"Spyro has four elements." Cynder observed, as a purple dragon he could master Earth, Ice, Fire and Lightning. Cynder had four elements as well, Shadow, Poison, Wind and Fear.

"You have four elements also, but you two are unique. It takes most dragons decades to even use basic elemental techniques from another element. I'm learning to use ice, but it's just as hard as I thought it would be."

A horn sounded. An hourglass turned, marking the start of the match.

* * *

The gate opened.

It opened in a suitably dramatic manner. The gate rose with a groan and a rattling of huge chains. From the darkness a huge red dragon emerged. Magmar was easily twice Spyro's size, and clad in armour of jagged black metal. Compared to him Spyro looked… heroic.

Cynder could think of no better word; they had faced bigger than this dragon, the Golem of the deep earth for example. She felt confident Spyro had a chance here. Her confidence took a blow, however, when she saw the dragon's eyes. They were the eyes of a killer, a trained, experienced, cold hearted killer.

The two dragons wasted no time on threats or speeches, the crowd grew silent. Magmar just stalked toward Spyro, meaning to crush the smaller dragon in his claws. Spyro seemed totally unfazed by the threat coming for him, but Cynder knew he was doing what she in the stands was doing too, looking for weaknesses in that terrifying spiked armour. She saw only the smallest places in which to attack; she could perhaps slip a poison strike onto Magmar's foreleg, or his eyes, but a dragon like him would be ready for that, and Spyro had no poison anyway.

Magmar covered the final distance to Spyro in an explosive rush, but the crowd stared as Spyro leapt straight through the mighty dragon's attack and struck a huge blow on his armoured skull. The crowd roared. Cynder actually felt the concussion of the blow in the wind, from the stands, an attack like that could fell a troll. Magmar's burning eyes never left Spyro's. The Fire Lord didn't even seem to notice the impact. Spyro landed some distance away and looked back at him defiantly, prepared for the next attack.

Again Magmar walked straight up to Spyro and raised a claw. Spyro repeated his earlier move, evading the attack and going straight for his opponent's head, this time however, Magmar revealed his true speed, his tail, spiked, armoured and lethal, missed Spyro by millimetres as the purple dragon twisted out of the way, but he moved directly into Magmar's well-timed punch. There was a solid thwack and Spyro lost his balance. Magmar immediately grabbed him and wrenched.

There was a crack.

Cynder had a miniature heart attack.

Spyro exploded.

The dragons were hurled apart; Magmar suffered far more of the impact, and was thrown against the stadium wall so hard as to break it. Spyro touched down after his blazing comet dash and turned quickly back to face his opponent. The crowd roared.

The armour on Magmar's claws was actually melted, the metal scarred by the heat, but the dragon himself was only bruised, and growing angry.

Spyro had come out second best from the encounter, his foreleg was twisted at an unnatural angle, it made Cynder feel sick to look at, and he couldn't put weight on it. The crowd grew uncertain, Spyro flexed to determine the damage, and then he made a sudden movement and howled in pain as he popped his dislocated bone back into place. Someone in the crowd threw up.

Magmar had encountered his own problem, some of the complicated plate joints on his back armour had been bent out of shape. He ripped a large section of it off furiously and threw it on the ground. He looked up and saw Spyro carefully stand on his injured leg. Both dragons re-appraised their opponent, and then Magmar used his own comet dash.

Cynder stared; she hadn't known the fire element was capable of such raw power. Magmar crossed the distance between the dragons in an eye blink; Spyro used earth to defend himself, raising a precipice of stone and soil in Magmar's way. It meant nothing to the master fire dragon; He could cut through solid stone like fresh snow.

The earth wall shattered like glass, some of it turned _into_ glass, Magmar's comet dash was that hot. At the final moment Magmar used a flourish of magic that Cynder hadn't even known was possible, even as he hurled into Spyro at brutal speed The Fire dragon instantaneously converted all of his power into a critical range explosion.

Cynder felt power humming inside her body. The world turned purple and time slowed to a crawl. Spyro had used Dragon Time, a power that was unique to the purple dragons. Cynder had gone through the cruellest training imaginable to learn to use this ability after Spyro had come to the attention of Malefor. Not that her training had ever meant anything until now, Spyro had defeated her evil self anyway, but she alone saw what happened next.

Even with Dragon Time Spyro used only seconds to react to the attack, his earth boulder would be no defence at all, but it seemed like his only option. Had he used it Spyro would have been blasted into the walls of the Arena with bone breaking force, had he not used it Spyro would have been blown into shreds by an attack like that. What he did was either madness or genius, and had nothing to do with earth at all. Spyro used his Ice storm attack, but not on himself, instead he targeted Magmar's explosion.

Time restarted.

* * *

The Explosion unmade itself and compressed into an orb of pure power. Ice, steam and fire warred for control within the fragile bounds of Spyro and Magmar's magic. Both dragons realised at the same time that they were standing next to a disaster waiting to happen, Spyro hurled himself backwards and dove for cover. Magmar activated his earth boulder just in time, as the bubble of elemental power exploded the two dragons were thrown to opposite sides of the arena.

Spyro rose and shook off the damage, then he turned an icy gze upon his enemy. Magmar's entire body was beginning to glow with heat, waves of bloodthirsty anger radiated from him. The huge dragon was spitting molten fire

Spyro's first step was unsteady, his second step wasn't.

"Chill out." He muttered and he took a deep breath and exhaled a blizzard.

Visibility dropped to nearly zero, Cynder could see neither Spyro nor Magmar, but the blizzard was carefully contained in the arena and did not rise out of it. Cynder admired Spyro's control. Fire split the storm, but Spyro's ice closed around it and choked it.

"This is one of Spyro's best techniques." Imperia whispered. "Massive area of effect damage and stunning after effects, it's unique to him, using ice an-"

The entire snow cloud lit up blindingly, elemental lightning coursed through every snowflake and illuminated the stadium brilliantly. Inside the lightning storm Magmar howled in pain. Cynder was Impressed, and also grateful that the blizzard had not extended up into the crowd and gotten her electrocuted.

The heat turned the ice to steam and when the steam cleared Spyro stood tall and proud. The crowd erupted into cheers, only Cynder seemed to realize that Spyro was still in danger.

"Spyro! Behind you!" She cried, Spyro's head jerked up at the sound of her voice and then he turned and Magmar rose from out of the ground and Spyro couldn't dodge the attack and that spiked terrible tail caught Spyro full on, sending him crashing down.

Cynder threw caution to the winds and began screaming instructions and encouragement to Spyro. Imperia had to physically restrain her from trying to join the fight.

Magmar was smoking in a manner a fire dragon probably shouldn't, and he limped severely on his rear leg. His armour was charred and practically ruined, but he was still winning. The dragon looked across the crowd, daring them to challenge him. Terrified silence filled the stands, Cynder didn't care all her minds was focused on Spyro's form, trying to get up.

Those burning eyes fixed on Cynder, the fire dragon looked at her and something like recognition showed in Magmar's gaze, it was followed by pure overwhelming hatred. It took all of Imperia's strength to hold Cynder down, but she managed it and Cynder could only watch as Magmar slowly turned his back on her and limped over to Spyro. Spyro looked at him as he approached; the red dragon said something quietly to Spyro, Cynder felt sure it had to do with her.

For a moment there was a standoff, than both dragons activated comet dash and hurtled together.

One might have expected an explosion, and had two dragons using the fire technique actually met in the centre of the arena, one would certainly have witnessed an explosion, but Spyro was a purple dragon, and he understood the elements in a way no mere fire dragon ever could.

Magmar had outcompeted Spyro in melee, and he did have more experience and power. Had he maintained his battering he may have even overwhelmed the smaller dragon. Magmar was devastating with his fire attacks. Spyro, however, was completely in a league of his own; his elemental combination of versatility and control left even the strongest dragon completely and laughably outclassed. Spyro had been doing nothing but train for nearly three years, and the results were in.

Magmar didn't understand why his comet dash turned to smoke, he had no idea that Spyro had used his ice, which was after all the easiest element with which to douse fire, to foul up and shut off Magmar's magic. Enlightenment didn't come for the red when Spyro's intact comet dash crashed into him, but what _did_ come were bright dancing lights of a starry persuasion, which was small consolation to the confused and dazed dragon. Spyro promptly doused his fallen foe in a large snowdrift. Then he filled that with lightning to make sure he stayed down.

The crowd erupted in cheering. Imperia whooped in celebration, and then Cynder broke free from her and threw herself into the arena.

"Spyro!" She cried, running toward him as fast as she could.

"Cynder?" Spyro looked around, saw her "Cynder!" he exclaimed. He limped a step, than ran straight to her.

The crowd grew completely silent as the two dragons embraced, but neither dragon knew anything of the world beyond the two of them.

Cynder wouldn't have recognized one mole among a crowd of thousands. All moles looked alike really, but this particular mole was one of a few that Cynder and Spyro had saved from a fire, on the day that Malefor had tried to invade Warfang some three years ago. The mole recognized Cynder, and after a moment of trying to process what was going on he began to cheer and cheer wildly. For a moment he cheered alone, then Imperia on the stands joined him, and in moments the entire crowd was chanting its approval for the reunited dragons and for Spyro's victory.

Imperia laughed, but she wasn't heard in the general din. Things could hardly have worked out better for her.

* * *

 **That's right: A fight to the death where nobody dies. Welcome to Chapter Two.**

 **Oh, I nearly forgot something: A** **Disclaimer- I don't own any rights to Spyro. If I did then there would be more Spyro.**

 **Does Spyro seem powerful enough? If he doesn't seem a little bit OP (OverPowered, it's a gaming term) then I haven't made him awesome enough. Feel free to use your imagination to tone Spyro's awesomeness up by about 15% if you want to.**

 **How powerful should Cynder be? Was the fight okay? Do my Author's notes suck? Is any of this making sense at all?**

 **Thanks for reading. Please leave a review, follow this story for more rapid updates (I promise), PM me with comments and ideas (or just for conversation with a Spyro fan)**

 **"I think, therefore I am"**

 **-4Dragons**


	3. A Time for Talk

**This is amazing! Thank-you to everyone who read and responded to Chapter two, I hadn't expected so much of a response! It seems that I'm doing at lest _something_ right, now I just need to work out what I did so that I can do more of it for you :)**

 **Story now:**

* * *

Time passed in a blur, Cynder and Spyro were swept along by a jubilant crowd of triumphant dragons and moles. Some healers eventually extracted them from the celebration and had Spyro tended to. A pair of red dragonesses visited them. One looked at the distance vaguely and danced slowly on the spot; the other, presumably the dragon Magmar's second in command, surrendered on behalf of the fire king on account of him being comatose and unable to do so personally. Cynder had no idea what they had said, but she remembered the way Spyro had nodded in acceptance as he thanked the two dragons, and then he had looked at her and given her a slightly dizzy smile, she remembered that perfectly.

While Spyro was examined the healers decided for whatever strange reason to check up on Cynder too, and they pronounced her to be in perfect health. Spyro had suffered bruising and several deep cuts from where he had been struck, he had also been dazed by one of the impacts he had suffered. Spyro had somehow performed a flawlessly successful self-relocation of his dislocated bone, the healers made sure it had been put back in the right place. He was declared fortunate not to have broken his ribs and had to wait for his dizziness to abate, but otherwise Spyro was also well. The healers put a big white bandage which contained shards of red crystal around his middle, it then neatly looped around Spyro's foreleg to heal any damage Magmar might have done to his tendons and muscles. At Spyro's polite but firm request it was only a few minutes they said the two dragons were free to go.

Spyro tapped Cynder's shoulder as they left and the two dragons took off, Spyro led them to a building Cynder hadn't been to before, the newly rebuilt and relocated Dragon Temple, where they wouldn't be bothered by crowds.

* * *

The new dragon temple was larger than the old one, despite the fact that nobody lived in it. It was graceful but intimidating, with high spires, stone arches and stone dragon statues on the rooftops. The temple had been designed to house not only dragon eggs but the great library of Warfang, not a minor feat as the library contained thousands upon thousands of books. Ambitious architects had also designed it to contain The Vaults of Warfang, but the true Vaults were protected by magic few dragons could hope to replicate, and were more secure than the temple could hope to be, miles of tunnels and passages far below the ground floor lay empty. The Temple was primarily a school, teaching younger dragons' history, mathematics, sciences, and the whole dragon curriculum. This was where Spyro spent most of his days, reading and learning on his own; having surpassed most of the teachers that Warfang had to offer.

Spyro flew in through one of the huge windows on the second floor; he landed and stretched his injured side and foreleg carefully. Cynder landed a moment later and Spyro turned to look at her. Cynder went to speak, but her mind went blank, she wanted to say… something… "I love you" "I'm sorry I left you" "Can you forgive me?" "How have you been?" "Spyro, Are you alright?" Perhaps even: "Oh, say Spyro, can you explain the really cool thing you did just before, countering Magmar's comet dash?" There were plenty of things Cynder wanted to say, but none of them seemed right.

Spyro was the first one to speak.

"I've missed you Cynder."

That made it easier.

"I've missed you too Spyro."

Irrelevant things probably happened then, the closing of eyes, deep breaths, butterflies in the stomach and the like, but the irrelevant things were still just a blur to Cynder right up until the moment when she felt Spyro's gentle kiss and the world stood still.

* * *

After the moment the dragons pulled apart. Pure relief flowed through Cynder's body and she could practically feel herself relax and regain some of her usual confidence. Nothing could be as scary as kissing Spyro again despite everything that had kept them apart. She even gave Spyro a smile, her special smile that was reserved just for him.

"Cynder, why did you go?" Spyro asked.

Cynder faltered. Her smile disappeared.

"I don't want to talk about it. Please. I'm back now and it's in the past."

"Tell me, Cynder, I've spent so long trying to understand you, why can't you just tell me?"

"It's in the past! I'm sorry I left okay? Just forget it!" Cynder snapped angrily, but then subsided.

"I just want a reason." Spyro said softly.

"Okay." Spyro deserved honesty, even if it would only make him even more upset. "I wasn't… I wasn't strong enough. I gave you up because I was causing you pain and myself pain and I thought it would hurt less; I thought that we would move on."

"Cynder…"

Cynder gathered her strength and met Spyro's eyes unflinchingly, despite the fact that hers were on the verge of filling with tears.

"I would have gone with you!" Spyro punched the floor in anger, to the surprise of both dragons it cracked; Spyro was stronger than he thought he was. "I can't believe I was so _stupid!_ I thought I was being considerate and understanding. I thought you needed time alone, I thought you _wanted_ to be alone. I could have gone with you! I should have gone with you…"

He met her gaze.

"I'm the one who should be sorry, Cynder. I am sorry."

"So we're both sorry."

"I guess so."

There was a moment of uncomfortable, and sorrowful, silence.

"Let's talk about something else, please?" Cynder asked. Spyro laughed slightly.

"You've grown taller."

"So have you. Stronger too I'll say." Cynder tapped the crack in the floor.

"I've been training a lot. Come on, I'll show you where I train before anyone finds… this." Spyro turned to leave, and then he paused.

"Actually, I may be able to try something here." Spyro spread his paws over the crack and carefully layered earth into the gap to fill it.

"Not bad" Cynder said.

"There's more." Spyro said. He breathed in and focused, then exhaled a narrow beam of pure heat. The stone sizzled like cooking meat and glowed brightly and Cynder had to watch through narrowed eyes to see what was happening. Spyro carefully adjusted his fire for a few seconds then suddenly switched to his ice element and chilled the area thoroughly. Cynder watched Spyro in admiration. He turned and caught her gaze, so she looked at his handiwork instead, the crack itself was sealed. The floor's surface, however, was blackened with heat and the stone itself was rippled like a windblown pond. It wasn't perfect, but it was extraordinary.

"That didn't work as well as I had hoped." Spyro admitted. "Now I'll definitely get in trouble."

"Can I have a go?" Cynder asked.

"Sure, but you don't have a fire element. What are you going to do?"

"I've been expanding my repertoire during my isolation." Cynder said.

"You sound like Volteer." Spyro laughed. He was impressed by her vocabulary.

"Just watch." Cynder examined the deformed stone with care, and then layered a thin sheen of poison over the surface. Spyro watched quietly as the floor began to smoke, Cynder tapped four seconds on the floor using her paw, immediately she exhaled a powerful wind gust that filled the chamber and focused its power on the poison she had used.

Spyro made a noise of amazement as the stone was perfectly smoothed and flattened. He grew even more amazed when an iridescent swirl of violet and blue formed an opaque sheen over the surface of the stone; in moments that patch of floor resembled the rainbow shell of an abalone. The bright spot of colour stood out spectacularly in the room, but looked more like the result of freelance artwork rather than frustrated floor beating. Cynder reached over her creation and pressed her paw into its center, leaving a dark print.

"That's incredible. How did you do that?" Spyro asked.

Cynder flushed at his praise.

"I don't really know… All I did was use poison and shadow to create acid, then oxidize it at the right moment with my wind."

"But how did it turn rainbow?" Spyro asked. "It's beautiful"

"I don't know. I guess it could be your ice magic affecting mine. I don't understand it."

"Beautiful things can be hard to understand" Spyro said thoughtfully "But that doesn't make them any less beautiful."

Spyro pressed his own paw on the shining surface, next to Cynder's print. It left a faint dark mark beside hers.

"Speaking of magic, how did you shut down the fire power of that dragon?"

"Magmar." Spyro said quietly. He sighed; Cynder had come back to him at the end of a long battle, and one that Spyro could hardly believe was actually over.

"Yes, him." Cynder said "I've never even heard of something like that being done."

"I'll show you around the temple and explain on the way." Spyro said. Cynder nodded and they started walking.

* * *

Spyro explained, as far as he could, how each of his four elements interacted. Pausing to point out features of the Dragon Temple as they walked, Spyro described how in normal use all of the elements were relatively evenly matched; but that on a level of pure mana, which was used to power magic, different types of mana could affect the other types in different ways.

For example, when ice and fire met in combat then it was the skill of the dragons using them that would determine the winner. On the other hand pure ice energy would invariably mute pure fire energy; the fire couldn't survive the ice. On the same pattern electricity countered ice and earth countered electricity. The circuit seemed incomplete, no mana countered earth, and fire didn't counter anything.

The topic changed then, as this mismatch led Spyro to suspect that wind was the fifth guardian element. Cynder had no doubt about where Spyro had heard that theory from. Imperia had been campaigning for years to take a place as the fifth elemental guardian. She and Cynder had discussed it at length several times. She mentioned this to Spyro and the two of them agreed that should Imperia ever succeed then her victory would prove an eternal monument to her silver tongue.

Cynder had sworn to herself she would reserve judgement on this Spyro. This older, stronger, more thoughtful Spyro was one she hadn't really encountered before. As they spoke, however, Cynder soon found herself falling for Spyro all over again.

Imperia had already given Cynder all the details, but Spyro's views on the idea of a fifth elemental guardian were new and interesting to Cynder, who had missed nearly all the gossip for two whole years.

Spyro felt that Imperia's argument was good, but unfortunately for her the only solid pieces of proof she had were a missing piece in a game of rock paper scissors only Spyro could play, and a throwaway line in a tale everyone preferred to forget: Malefor's origin story. It was said that the other purple dragon had mastered the wind element during his training, but when Spyro had shown no sign of a dormant wind ability Cyril, the ice guardian, had argued that this meant nothing. Terrador, the earth guardian and unofficial leader of the guardians, respected the former leader Ignitus' opinion, that there were only four guardians for a reason, but couldn't find any reason other than that it was ancient tradition. He had not cast support to either side.

Spyro and Cynder heard voices from a central chamber of the temple and looked at each other. They reached a silent agreement and went to the source of the sound.

The two dragons found the chamber of interest and went inside. The guardians Volteer, Cyril and Terrador were gathered there and in heated debate.  
"A _break in_! in the _vaults of Warfang_!" Cyril was exclaiming. "Volteer you ridiculous worm we have bigger problems then the fire surrender. They have surrendered, case closed!"

"Historical patterns show a distinct trend here Cyril. Your obsession with your own lineage has blinded you to the lessons of the wider past. A lazy surrender is as bad as no surrender at all; we will go back to war if we don't work this out now. Besides I thought you loved quibbling over little details."

" _Quibbling_!? _You_ accuse _me_ of quibbling? At least _I_ have my priorities straight, you blathering bright spark!"

"Your number one priority is your ego Cyril. It always was and always will be, you're as self-centred as-"

Cynder turned to Spyro "Are they always like this?"

Spyro shrugged "Pretty much. Its better when Flare is here, but Volteer and Cyril will just bicker until Terrador tells them to-"

"SHUT UP" Terrador yelled. Volteer and Cyril did so. The earth guardian dragon went on in his deep voice before the argument could restart.

"We have guests. Spyro welcome, and Cynder, I am glad to see you are safe."

Terrador turned back to the other guardians

"It's unfortunate that I have nothing better to do with my time then listen to you two argue, Volteer, Cyril. The matter is already decided, Flare will be here in minutes, and the Fire Lord Magmar has recovered sufficiently to confirm the terms of his surrender in person, she is escorting him here. Cyril, the matter of the vault raid shall be discussed _after_ the surrender."

Volteer shot Cyril a smirk that said "I told you so" Terrador gave Volteer the "Don't even think about it" look and Cyril directed the "I'm surrounded by idiots" expression to the room at large.

Cynder didn't know how to do a "Politics is ridiculous" look, so she settled for a "why do I bother?" Spyro appeared terribly amused by the whole thing.

Volteer turned away from Cyril and finally seemed to register that Cynder was in the room. He looked delighted.

"Cynder! Wow, you've grown! Come here!" He came to her instead and hugged her tightly. "You look great! Mmm… you smell great too! Is that nightshade? It's poisonous of course, but in smaller quantities it leaves a dragon with lovely breath. As a poison dragon you probably don't even have to worry about berry poisoning though do you?" Volteer let her go. Cynder was smiling already; she had forgotten how much she loved Volteer's enthusiasm and his never-ending stream of ideas. "You smell as nice as a fire dragon. Lucky fire dragons with their nice smell. Have you smelt a fire dragon? Take Flare, she's a classic example. She smells amazing, smoky!"

Cynder was looking forward to meeting this Flare dragoness. Volteer stopped talking, looking like he'd said too much. Cynder took the chance to begin answering his questions before she forgot them.

"Yes, I do eat nightshade occasionally; I think mint works better though. No, I don't need to worry about poisonous berries, they can't hurt me. Also no… I can't recall ever smelling a fire dragon."

"That's such a shame! Hang on, Spyro, you're a fire dragon."

"I already know what Spyro smells like."

"You what?" Spyro spluttered.

"Spyro smells like Spyro, nobody else smells like he does." Cynder tried not to giggle, she wasn't a giggling dragon.

"Can we change the subject?" Spyro asked. "Cyril is looking at us strangely."

Volteer turned and stuck his long tongue out at Cyril. The ice dragon muttered something about childish behaviour, he had a point, Volteer was the youngest guardian by a sizable margin, perhaps the youngest guardian dragon ever, but he'd had to take over the position quite unexpectedly when his predecessor had turned out to be a murderous psychopath. Despite Volteer's lack of the high level training most guardians had gone through his natural ability with lightning and his fondness for theoretical concepts and advanced reading had left him as a remarkably competent Guardian.

Terrador came over and joined the group. Cynder was unsure about how Terrador felt towards her. She knew that loyalty was important to Terrador, and that he had been a soldier before he was a guardian. Cynder liked to think that she was a loyal dragon, she certainly wasn't a traitor, but Terrador might not see it that way. Cynder was rather surprised when Terrador gave her a kind smile.

"Welcome back to Warfang."

Cynder could only nod politely.

"What's wrong, weren't you expecting a warm welcome?" Terrador asked. Cynder shook her head.

"I thought you would be angry at me." Cynder admitted.

"No, I'm not. Ignitus promised you that the guardians wouldn't fail you again, but in allowing you to be driven from the city by the dragons that should have been grateful to you, we have done so. I'm not angry, I'm sorry."

"It's seems like everyone is sorry." Cynder said. "It's getting a bit old."

"I'm not sorry." Volteer volunteered.

"You might as well apologize anyway. Just for the sake of completeness" Spyro joked. Volteer was going to reply when Terrador suddenly rose and looked to the door.

"We have company"

* * *

Escape from the most secure prison known to Dragonkind was no simple task.

The tomb of Darkmire was built to contain its namesake: Darkmire, the terrible black dragon. The name of Darkmire was nearly all lost to history and the truth behind his story was not clear. Nobody truly knew what he had been capable of or why everybody had been so scared of him, but they had been very, very scared of him.

Judge a dragon by the quality of his prison, and a very sinister picture emerges.

The Sigils, spells and runes carved into the stone of the tomb's passageways were old and powerful, designed to mercilessly crush the creation of Mana. What was called "Natural" mana was unaffected, the usual elemental powers used by dragons but the next level powers like fury attacks and the infamous "Dark Spyro" effect was completely prevented. Perhaps Darkmire had been a dragon who had moved beyond natural dragon abilities.

The tomb was underground, built around a vast black pit. Nine descending levels of rings each filled with doors, traps and guards. The walls of the pit were designed with imposing spikes of razor sharp rock to prevent anyone, or anything, climbing out from the depths below. To access the ring below a dragon would have to pull a lever within a well-guarded room and then rush over one of the long narrow bridges down; the lethal spikes on the bridge would only retract for a single minute to allow passage.

Flying within Darkmire's tomb was tantamount to suicide, thousands upon thousands of strands of razor wire crisscrossed the pit, and a dragon would risk losing their wings before they had gone a few metres. Once across a bridge there was no way back, only a dragon on the exit side could make the bridge safe to cross.

The final, and most spooky, testament to the mysterious Darkmire's power was that the black dragon was dead.

Whatever he had done in life, however they had eventually defeated him, dragonkind couldn't sleep easy even then. The few sources remaining to history all agreed that when Darkmire had died the dragons had been so terrified of him that they didn't trust even death itself to keep him from tormenting them. The greatest prison known to dragonkind had been built to contain a corpse.

There was now only one living prisoner.

His name was Thoran.

* * *

The dragon had come to him silently. Like a nightmare that Thoran couldn't quite remember, who was the dragon? He didn't know, but when his chains were struck and the cell door quietly swung open Thoran knew one thing. He was going free, and he would kill every dragon, any living thing, that tried to stop him.

As Thoran strolled out of his cage he saw the dragon again. The dragon, whoever it was, was moving deeper into the prison. There were only dead things down there. Thoran recalled the name of his fellow prisoner with a shiver. Not Darkmire, the other one, the new one. Disturbing thoughts came to him; he rather wished that he hadn't looked, but what he saw confirmed his fear. A flash of purple.

The dragon wasn't a _someone_ at all. It was something else entirely.

Darkmire wasn't the one who the guards should be worried about.

Thoran's first victim was on routine patrol past his cell. He was familiar, he had been the junior guard with the duty of feeding Thoran for months now and it was disgusting, even thinking about it made the ex-prisoner angry. Thoran had no qualms about walking up behind the guard and breaking his neck.

His first kill in… how long? Twelve long years at least, Thoran's skills felt dull. He stretched like a cat and sighed as his stiff joints began to relax. He was older then he had realized. His power, however, was pure and perfect, it had never failed him.

The next dragon wasn't taken by surprise. Thoran found a long corridor as he began to methodically search his prison. Getting out would require a plan of course, Thoran needed time to think. The dragon at the end of the hall took a few seconds to recognize the one live prisoner in his care, and then he charged down the hallway at Thoran. The older dragon watched him come, then traced a line of power on the ground and stepped back. The guard dragon ran straight over the line like an idiot. Lightning crackled and sparked through his prison standard issue armour and fried the guard's blood in the time it took him to move from one step to his next.

The guard took his last step and fell forward with a graceless crunch. Thoran laughed at him but choked on his own voice, he hadn't spoken in months. He kicked the dead dragon as he passed.

One gets what one deserves when one underestimates the former Electricity Guardian Dragon.

* * *

 **This chapter took me a solid week to write. I had started this story well in advance for the sake of rapid posting, but then Chapter three came along and... writers block.**

 **It's always chapter three.**

 **In my final proof read (I have no beta readers) I was thinking "Ah, that bit took me an hour." and "This bit I rewrote six times" worst of all was Cynder and Spyro's kiss. That took me FOUR DAYS to write! I had to personally sort out their relationship as they didn't seem inclined to do it for themselves.**

 **I apologise if this chapter isn't very good, I feel it's worse then my usual writing.**

 **I would appreciate reviews and/or messages about what I could have done better (and what, if anything, I did right)**

 **As always thanks for reading!**

 **"Knowledge is Power"**

 **-4Dragons**


	4. Promises

Three red dragons joined the guardians in the meeting chamber.

The first dragoness could only be the fire guardian Flare, Cynder stared at her. Flare moved with a strange skipping gait, unlike any dragon Cynder had met. She was deceptively quick, seeming to stop for a second in each step before sweeping forward with no obvious actual movement. Her wings folded in an unusual pattern, reminding Cynder of an origami flower. Her tail had no blade but rather a long feathery set of streamers, which Flare was in the habit of spinning incessantly about herself. It was quite mesmerising.

Flare false skipped her way over to Volteer and Terrador; Cyril joined them after a moment. The four guardians nodded politely to each other, then turned their attentions to the two other dragons that had come with Flare. Cynder vaguely recognised the second dragoness, she and Flare had come to Spyro right after the colosseum fight to formally end the war, or something like that, Cynder hadn't really paid attention.

Limping, bloody and battered and leaning heavily on the dragoness for support, the fire king Magmar still radiated an aura of menace that dominated the meeting chamber. His eyes quickly assessed the room; Cynder was familiar with the "if this goes bad, who do I kill first?" program of thought behind those red eyes. Cynder had made the same calculation more and more often lately. As she was watching Cynder could feel Magmar's eyes locate her. She met his gaze calmly, and practically saw "I'd kill her first" flash across the fire king's mind. Cynder had to hope the situation didn't go bad; as she would almost certainly need to reveal skills best left unseen at this time if she was to win against this dragon.

Magmar looked at Spyro last of all, and then he bowed slowly.

"Congratulations on your victory, the purple dragon has lived up to his legend. However, this battle was to the death, and we are both still alive." Magmar said.

"There was a winner." Spyro said. "That's what matters. We could go for round two, if your injuries permit."

Cynder wished Spyro had left that last bit off; she was the one most likely to end up as charcoal if the fire dragon took offence. The dragon glared at Spyro and with difficulty stood without aid.

"You would regret that." He snarled. Cynder believed him without any doubt. Spyro nodded.

"Our fight is over." He said carefully.

Magmar closed his eyes, then he staggered and the red dragoness had to catch him before he fell.

"The fight is over." She said to him.

"Thankyou, sister, you are right." Magmar looked up; the first signs of defeat were in his eyes now.

Cyril spoke up unexpectedly.

"I can't help but notice: there are four non guardian dragons here, at the meeting of the guardians. I accept that the Fire King Magmar needs to be here in person, but I feel that some of the rest of you-" Cyril looked at Cynder in particular. "Should not be present."

"I'm staying." Spyro said in a voice that brooked no argument.

"I'm not leaving." The fire dragoness said.

Cynder didn't say anything.

"She's staying too." Spyro said immediately.

"This is ridiculous." Cyril protested. "Why if one more dragon turned up there would be more non guardians here then-"

"Sorry to be late." Cynder couldn't help but smile at the familiar silky voice. The dragons all looked up, Imperia was perched in the high windows at the top of the meeting room, she casually stepped off the edge and fell straight towards the floor, she did a lazy somersault on her way down. At the last moment she lazily spread her wings and touched down soft and silent with the rest of the dragons; she certainly knew how to make an entrance.

"Somebody neglected to mention where the guardians were meeting." Imperia laughed playfully, she flicked Cyril with her tail, "But when one speaks of the devil…" Cyril looked like he was about to start filibustering until Terrador quickly got the meeting back on topic, speaking to Magmar.

"We have terms for your total surrender. Naturally you won't accept them; we have an arrangement to make."

"Yes we do." The red dragon agreed.

* * *

Cynder preened her wing while the dragons spoke; she was listening carefully while appearing to be only mildly interested.

Magmar was a difficult dragon to negotiate with, the odds of his comet dash killing any one dragon in the room, whoever pissed him off, was disturbingly high, so nobody wanted to directly argue with him, except Spyro. Magmar knew nothing of the limits of Spyro's power, or exactly what the purple dragon could do. He had respect for Spyro alone and so Spyro took on authority for Warfang.

Spyro proved to be essential to the surrender, which was reasonable as he had been the one to ensure it. Cynder felt a moment of concern over how much of the peace treaty depended on him. Then she looked at Spyro, tall, proud and strong. He gave her a smile and she felt her doubts turn to nothing but smoke, Spyro could be trusted.

The final terms: Warfang, Shattershelf and all associated dragon parties were to mutually and immediately cease hostilities of any non-sanctioned form; a legal loophole was left for training, sparring and duels, as was fitting.

Trade, as undertaken before war had been declared, was to resume at the discretion of individual trading parties, however any illegitimate dealings were to be dealt with harshly by both cities, so as not to cause further dispute.

There was more, of course, specifics such as territory and diplomatic negotiations, compensation for damage done and so on. Spyro wasn't familiar with the smaller details, as he began to struggle Flare took over his role and allowed Spyro to remove himself from the discussion.

"Do you want to go?" He asked Cynder. Cynder hesitated, as she was deciding Magmar's eyes found her again, as they had done every few minutes since the negotiation had begun.

"Yes." Cynder decided. They turned to go, but were stopped immediately.

"Cynder." She looked around; it was Magmar who had spoken. He ignored all the other dragons and focused only on her. "You still call yourself Cynder. Yes?"

"That's my name." Cynder said cautiously.

"I would like to speak to you. In private"

"Okay." Cynder said. She glanced around at the guardians, Volteer, Terrador and surprisingly Cyril looked concerned for her. Flare looked annoyed that she had been ignored, but gave Cynder a small smile anyway. Imperia looked perfectly content with the situation, but she was weird like that.

"There's a room just outside which is empty." Flare said helpfully.

The fire dragoness, Magmar's sister, whispered something urgently to him, he shook her off and limped outside. Cynder followed warily, she had a sinking feeling in her belly that she knew what this was about already.

* * *

The empty room had a water feature at its centre and was large and circular as most dragon architecture was. Cynder moved to the far side of the room from the other dragon and waited for him to speak. She wasn't kept waiting long.

"There is only one thing in the world that could give me greater pleasure then tearing you apart. I could kill you right now." Magmar said softly. He turned away and limped across the room, Cynder put the water feature in between them.

Cynder was tempted to say: "Well why don't you go and do whatever that other thing is, and leave me alone?" but realized that silence was likely to be safer.

"Do you remember when we met before?" The fire dragon continued.

Cynder didn't, but tried to remember rather than discuss the matter. A familiar voice drifted to her mind:

"We never proved that the Shattershelf dragons gave aid to The Apes on the night of the dragon temple raid, when your egg was captured by the Dark Master, but the Old Fire Dragons had long held a truce with our enemy."

Dark memories from Cynder's childhood, memories of her training under Malefor, welled up like blood from a wound, she squashed them determinedly. Once memory, however, was important.

"You were on the council of the Ape King: Gaul. I remember you now." Cynder said softly.

Magmar began to circle the room clockwise, slowly; Cynder circled the same way, keeping distance between them. The Fire King spat on the floor in disgust, he spat fire, and it started to burn a small flame on its own.

"Don't speak to me about Gaul. I warned him of what his greed would bring but he wouldn't listen, he ruined The Apes and our alliance with his madness. Keeping the black egg was the final insult. I left that piece of filth burnt and broken, I tore out his eye. I murdered him."

"Spyro killed Gaul, not you." Cynder said.

"I KNOW!" Magmar roared at her. Cynder sped up to maintain her distance from the older dragon. He stopped suddenly, and she stopped too, he took a step the other way and she matched him, then he smiled at her.

"Do you know what Gaul did in his anger, after I tried to kill him?" Magmar asked. Cynder shook her head, but the bloody memories in her head were quite clear on this particular point. Magmar took a step forward, Cynder's tail brushed the wall, and there was nowhere to go.

"He spent two years waiting, while his wounds healed. He had his eye replaced by magic. I was certain that Gaul wouldn't risk his apes against my dragons. He didn't. He called on his master, and they sent their attack dog instead." Magmar was advancing now, and no fire dragon had ever looked so chilling.

"The Black Dragon, Cynder. I think you do remember what I'm speaking about. Cynder raided the outlying villages in the night, spreading terror and pain, killing dragons and apes indiscriminately. My mate took a force of dragons and went out to guide the villagers to the safety of our city. Thirty dragons, over a hundred Apes who wouldn't follow Gaul mad plans. They were within sight of the city, of safety, when the Black Dragon came down upon them… and she tore them all apart. Every single one was killed and all we could do was watch her work from behind our walls."

Magmar was almost upon Cynder by now, Cynder tried not to panic, she could handle herself in a fight, even against a dragon with nothing left to loose.

"By the blood of my mate I swore revenge on those who had caused me and my people this pain. The purple dragon Malefor, the ape king Gaul, and their attack dog, Cynder."

"Are you going to kill me?" Cynder asked. "Because that won't work out for everybody."

"Yes. I am going to kill you." Magmar stopped walking and suddenly turned away and limped towards the door. "But it won't be today. You're under Spyro's protection, we have a truce now. Spyro cares a great deal for you and I can see you care for him too, stay close to him for as long as you can, Cynder. We will meet again, I promise you."

Then Magmar limped out of the door and disappeared.

"I'll send Spyro out to you shall I?" The fire dragon called, and then he was gone.

* * *

Cynder closed her eyes and breathed deeply to calm herself, while she did so she also crushed the memories of her evil self back into the past where they belonged. Her eyes opened as footsteps ran into the room. Spyro ran over to her, he looked concerned.

"Are you okay Cynder? Imperia did a thing with the wind, and we heard everything that you said." Spyro surprised her, and possibly himself too, when he gathered Cynder into a tight hug.

"I'm okay." Cynder said. It was even the truth; Spyro's embrace gave her comfort. She smiled at Spyro, they were close enough to kiss again, but this time they didn't kiss.

Then they kissed anyway.

Cynder was out of practice at kissing; actually she'd never even been _in_ practice. She wasn't good at it. She could possibly ask Imperia for lessons, but knew without a doubt that she would receive more education then she probably wanted. Spyro didn't know how to kiss either, but Cynder didn't care.

They broke off and Cynder rested her head on Spyro's shoulder, Spyro tucked his wing around her, he was so warm. Cynder allowed herself to enjoy the hug; she closed her eyes and smelt the Spyro smell.

"I kind of figured Imperia would listen in, from the moment she taught me the wind warp trick I just knew she would be constantly using it to nose in on everyone."

Wind warping had a number of different uses, not least was being able to magnify, shift and delay sounds. It was a wind warp that Imperia had used to stop her fall in the Guardian's meeting without needing her wings; she had spread them only for dramatic effect. Wind warping was also an important part of Cynder's self-created fighting style, allowing her to ignore the reality of both gravity and physics to move at the speed of thought. Watching Cynder fight was amazing, fighting her was terrifying.

"Wind magic is really cool, I wish I had it. Is it difficult?"

"Hmm… yes it is pretty difficult, thought, care and using control is all just as important as raw power. Raw power only gets you things like whirlwinds and wind blades; with care you can create all sorts of effects."

Cynder felt Spyro nodding; she raised her head and looked around.

"What should we do now?" Spyro asked.

Cynder's belly cast a vote.

"I felt that in my wing!" Spyro laughed, Cynder laughed too.

"We'd better get some lunch then."

* * *

"Cynder, why are you walking strangely?" Spyro asked, as the two dragons made their way to a canteen.

"Oh, I'm trying to walk like Flare the fire guardian did. It's so strange, I can't help trying it."

"You're doing terrible, sorry to say it. You could ask her for a demonstration."

"That would be a weird conversation: "Hi there Flare, I'm Cynder and I want to walk like you do, any tips?" Actually I should do that."

"She'd be fine with it I'm sure. Try the walk again for me, I want to see."

Cynder laughed and hopped a few steps.

"Nope. Your rear left paw should start further forwards; you need to do it as a skip, not a hop."

Cynder hopped a few more steps, and then skipped one.

"I did it!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"Go again!" Spyro said.

Cynder tried again and failed but then got the false skip right several times in a row.

"This is stupid." She laughed.

"You've got it now. Practice it more, and then show Flare, I bet she'll love it."

"She seems nice. A bit strange though. Does Volteer have a thing for her?"

"He is sort of obvious about it. I also know he has a crush on Imperia, so who knows how that's going to go."

"Volteer fancies strange dragons." Cynder mused.

"They're both really sexy though." Spyro said, and then he added "Was that out loud?"

"Yes. Yes it was." Cynder told him.

Imperia was definitely sexy, Flare was certainly pretty, so Cynder didn't mind Spyro thinking so, the real question for her was rather different.

Did he think that she looked sexy too?

Cynder tried not to be arrogant, but she was proud, she was quite sure Spyro liked her as much as she liked him, he had before… The question was how to make him tell her? She knew Spyro would probably need the world to be ending… again… before he would actually find the courage to ask her out on a date, so she would need to find a restaur-

"Cynder?" Spyro asked. He stopped and looked into her eyes.

"Yes?"

"Would you like to go on a date with me… Tonight?"

Cynder opened her mouth, but no sound came out, _Spyro_ had asked _her_ out.

Good, so he should have.

"I'll understand if you say no." Spyro started babbling awkwardly "I mean it's only been a day, we met again this morning and we haven't seen each other so if-" Cynder interrupted him.

"Yes! Yes, yes! I'd love to go on a date with you Spyro."

Everything was going right again, Cynder had kissed Spyro two times in as many hours and now they had a date, pure happiness warmed Cynder's belly. It wasn't food, so her belly rumbled again.

"I know this really good restaurant we can go to tonight." Spyro said. "But now it's lunchtime." He laughed.

* * *

Volteer, Cyril and Terrador were talking again. Volteer wanted to return to help Flare deal with the surrender, but Cyril was determined to have the matter of the Vault break in discussed properly.

"Volteer. This is serious. The time for bickering is over; we have reason to believe that there are one or more traitors within Warfang itself!"

"Why do you think so?" Terrador asked, ever practical.

"The guards were knocked out, we suspect by a wind elemental attack, the door was unlocked, and a rooftop entrance was left open."

"There aren't many wind dragons within Warfang." Terrador said.

"And Ice, Earth and Lightning could also knock out two dragons without any disturbance." Volteer said.

"I'm not accusing." Cyril said. "You don't need to leap to her defence."

Volteer looked ready to argue, but Cyril spoke over him.

"I have moles working to determine what was stolen. We have reported two items missing. First, the snake charms Malefor used on Spyro and Cynder to bind them together."

"Nobody will miss those things." Volteer muttered.

"The other item was a sphere of black iron."

Volteer froze, Cyril didn't even freeze him.

"Iron, definitely a sphere? You don't mean that someone stole the crystal prison?"

"I think so. Is this serious?" Cyril asked.

"No. This is much worse than serious." Volteer murmured.

* * *

Thoran found himself wishing that Darkmire's tomb was easier to escape from. It wasn't the guards; they hadn't so much as scratched him. It wasn't the bridge spikes or the razor wire; they had been his allies, not his enemies. The dragon Darkmire clearly hadn't used the electric element and the whole prison ran on a series of complicated electrical systems it had taken Thoran all of ten minutes to gain total control of.

The first that any of the other dragons in the prison knew about this little fact was when a group of four dragons assembled to rush down the bridge to bring the fight to Thoran. They had made it halfway across the bridge in only ten seconds, plenty of time left to cross. Then Thoran had manipulated the electrical circuits that controlled the lethal spikes on the bridge. It took him six seconds, the lead dragon in the group almost made it.

Four dead guards, Thoran retracted the spikes again and threw them off the edge.

Nobody else dared to rush the bridge, but guards hurried to gather at the far side, ready for Thoran to make his crossing, that was no problem to him.

Thoran's whole body began to glow with bright electricity. Electric dragons on the far side recognised the Thunderlance, a technique that usually meant death for both the user and their target. The Thunderlance had a weakness though. It was completely negated by a dragon using an Earth Boulder so as the bridge spikes retracted the Earth dragons lead the way out onto the bridge. Thoran charged at them, ready for death.

At the point of his impact the electric dragon vanished. The guards looked around in sudden fear, not even the ones who had mastered the electric element knew how he had done that. Then they saw him, back at the foot of the bridge, he gave them a merry wave, and then the bridge spikes shot out again.

Ten dead dragons.

The illusion made of electricity, a projection of light only true master of the element could create, caught one further dragon in its trap, the third time nobody dared to confront it, and when the real Thoran unleashed his Thunderlance on the watching guards nobody was ready for it.

More dead dragons.

This was getting bloody. Thoran wasn't above a massacre; it was his nasty habit of butchering his fellow prisoners that had gotten him imprisoned here on his own after all. The ex-guardian was insane, but he wasn't stupid, and a killing spree right now would take up time that he didn't have.

Thoran wished Darkmire's Tomb was easy to escape from because he knew without a doubt that something very bad was going on below him, and Thoran didn't want any part of it.

* * *

 **I'm glad to be past Chapter three, from here on up things should only get better (should).** **I've had to shuffle everything back a chapter now, because there's so much that I have to get through.**

 **I have a few quick questions for anyone who wants to answer: What do you call a group of dragons? Can you call random crowds of non human characters "people"? and what term should be used for a young dragon?**

 **On an unrelated note I am a strange author; finishing writing each chapter takes me about four or five days (sometimes more). The weird bit is this: After I "finish" a chapter I have to close it and start the next one, to convince my mind that I've really finished the previous one. After about 500 words of the next chapter I go back to the one I just finished and spend a few hours agonizing over editing it. A day later I do the same thing again, then a day later. Every chapter I write has gone through at least five proof reads and over twenty small edits. This delays my posting, so in truth this whole side note is my way of asking for a Beta reader, then I will have a new friend, a volunteer will get to read my story in advance, the rest of you will get more chapters sooner and everyone will be happy!**

 **Please contact me if you're interested in beta reading A Duel with Destiny.**

 **My sincerest thanks go to everyone who has given me reviews and story has had more reads, follows and even favorites then I had ever expected or hoped for. The Spyro fanfic community is amazing!**

 **I think that's everything I want to say.**

 **"Being not dead is my life's work- But being alive is my life's meaning"**

 **-4Dragons**


	5. Putting the World Right Again

**Due to a bad word this story is now rated "T" I was going to have to rate it up eventually as the story got darker, so it may as well be now.**

 **Story time:**

* * *

"Just how bad is "worse than serious"?" Terrador asked Volteer.

"Cyril was right, this was more important than the fire dragon surrender."

"I'm glad to be called right. What's with the change of heart?" Cyril asked.

"The Crystal Prison. I had it made, you might remember, the moles did their best work on it, but it won't stand up to somebody trying to break into it for long." The others noted that Volteer didn't quite answer the question.

 _At the door to the deepest prison in Darkmire's tomb stood the dragon. The door gave some trouble, but inevitably the dragon drew it open. The ball of black iron had been growing heavier and heavier as the dragon had approached the room. As the door swung open the dragon tore the iron open at its welded line and gazed at its precious contents._

"What is in there?" Cyril asked.

"A fragment of the centre of the world, we found it after Spyro defeated Malefor."

"The _centre of the world_?" Cyril asked incredulously.

"Yes, it's a crystal about the size of your paw, it's jagged and purple and it has an aura of power."

"Why was it bound and hidden in the vaults?" Cyril asked.

"Because we thought it would be safe there, but there's something else…"

"What is it?" Terrador asked, he had never seen Volteer so shaken, not even after evil Cynder had captured the pair of them, years ago.

"Whoever did this, I know where they're going next. They're going east, to Darkmire's tomb."

Terrador swore.

"No! That's impossible!" Cyril exclaimed. "We must send a force after the thief!" He went to run from the room.

"It's too late." Volteer said. He sounded beaten. "It's a three day journey by flight, but I think that our thief has no need to travel by air. We've lost this time."

 _There was a dead dragon in the cell. Why was it twitching?_

 _It was moving. Darkmire wasn't the one everybody should have been so afraid of, whether the ancient black dragon could come back to life or not didn't really matter. This one_ definitely _could, and you could sense it looking at you, a terrible consciousness haunted this dead dragon._

 _The purple crystal sensed its presence, the wait was over._

Thoran was panicking. He caught an earth dragon and held his claw to his throat. He was out of time now, he was sure of it. The guards should be running; they should all have been running, flying west to civilization and praying to the ancestors for safety.

"I won't kill you if you can convince the others to let me go." Thoran hissed at his captive.

"Die in a hole." The dragon spat at him. He tried to strike at Thoran, careless for his own safety. Thoran smashed his head against the wall.

"You don't understand! _He_ is coming. He'll destroy us all! We're all going to die here!"

"You're evil. They won't let you escape here." The dragon growled. Thoran was thrown off his feet when his unwilling hostage used an earth boulder. The dragon began to run, Thoran gave chase and threw lightning at him, but he whipped clouds of dirt up to deflect it. At the spiked bridge the dragon threw himself into the air. Thoran stared in astonishment as he used his earth boulder to smash the razor wire; he caught a spike on the wall and began to carefully climb out of the unclimbable pit.

Thoran threw a thunderbolt across the pit and heard a scream. The dragon still held on but Thoran had no time to waste on killing him.

* * *

It was too late.

 _The time had come._

"Volteer, we can't sit here, you know who's in that pit!" Cyril shouted, he was panicking, he knew there was no hope.

"IT DOSEN'T MATTER!" Thoran shouted to the guards across the final bridge. "JUST LET ME GO! CAN'T YOU FEEL WHAT'S COMING?"

 _A dragon and a dragon met in a dark chamber. In a flash of purple light two dragons was one._

 _The dragon eternal, freed at last. Conqueror of the world, master of destiny itself. The dragon who knew no limits. Scholar, genius, monster._

 _Malefor._

It was too late.

* * *

Lunch took far longer than it should have, Spyro and Cynder were so deep in conversation that they were barely able to nibble at their food between talk. The topic was the Guardians, and more specifically, who was the strongest of them? Cynder was the one asking the questions, Spyro was the one in the know.

"So: Magmar, the fire king. He's a dangerous enemy, how would each guardian dragon go against him?"

Spyro took a moment to consider the question.

"That comet dash of his…" Spyro shivered. "That's honestly a really scary thing. Nobody else can tell when I slow down time with my Dragon Time ability, not many dragons besides you even know I have it. I needed it to buy me time to counter the comet dash, the guardians couldn't do that."

Cynder could tell when Spyro used Dragon Time, but this didn't seem like the moment to say so.

"So who could survive the comet dash?"

"Not Volteer, Probably not Cyril either, they'd both be killed instantly. Terrador's earth boulder is far stronger than mine, but I don't know if it would be strong enough."

"How about Imperia?"

"You probably know as much as I do about her. In an enclosed space I'd say she wouldn't stand a chance. Magmar's grappling techniques are much faster than you would expect and lethal at close range for sure, he was a second away from getting a grip on my horn, if he'd gotten hold…"

Cynder remembered the crack she had heard when the fire king had gotten his hands on Spyro, she felt a chill. Spyro resumed his analysis.

"But if Imperia had room to manoeuvre, well… you know how wind dragons are, you are one."

"I could evade Magmar's attacks at long range. No problems." Cynder said. "What about Flare? Fire dragon battle?"

"Hmm, that's a tricky question. You haven't seen Flare fight, I wouldn't do her justice just telling you about how she fights, so you'll have to go and watch her train some time. She has this nasty habit of setting herself on fire, it makes her very difficult to deal with. I don't know how that battle would go."

"So who's the strongest, let's add Imperia in too, is it Terrador, or Flare?"

"Don't underestimate Cyril, everyone seems too, and it's the type of mistake you won't live to regret."

"Really?"

"Trust me on this one; Cyril isn't a dragon to mess with. Honestly all of the guardians are extremely strong. There's a reason they're the dragons who have their fifth level of Mastery."

Cynder had never been graded for mastery, she didn't have a guardian element and Imperia apparently didn't believe in the system. Cynder did know what Spyro meant though.

A dragon spends a minimum of ten years in schooling, including learning elemental control, combat training and of course the academic subjects. Ten years is enough for a dragon to reach Expertise: the rank below the Mastery, in one element. After several trials a dragon can earn Mastery, then there are four further ranks of Mastery, each one is more difficult to attain then the one before. The fourth Mastery is the highest most dragons achieve; many dragons didn't concern themselves with training to higher than a first level mastery anyway. Only a dragon who becomes apprenticed to the elemental Guardian can reach the fifth Mastery to replace the guardian who trained them. To reach that level from the very beginning is the work of no less than sixty years, some time, even in dragon terms.

The average dragon at Cynder and Spyro's age would be close to Expertise in their element, but Cynder and Spyro were not average dragons.

At the conversation went off topic Spyro and Cynder were interrupted by a surprisingly welcome disruption.

When she had first met him Cynder would never even have considered calling Sparx the dragonfly "a surprisingly welcome disruption". Cynder's childhood had been horrible, but Spyro's had frankly been bizarre. Spyro had been raised as a dragonfly, a huge purple one it would seem; Sparx was his adoptive brother and his best friend. Cynder hadn't seen him in so long she had almost forgotten that he was annoying.

"Hey! Spyro dude, what's up? You went and cleared outta the place before you woke me up! I missed the whole battle thing. How'd you go?"

"I did wake you up Sparx," Spyro protested. "You told me I was fat and dopey and asked me to ask mum to make you your hot chocolate, then you went back to sleep again."

Sparx's eye twitched. Cynder looked at him; Sparx had barely changed at all. He was still glowy and talky and small. Sort of like Volteer was, but annoying, and small of course. He flew close to Spyro's nose.

"That never happened. You never heard anything… buddy." Sparx was surprisingly good at sounding intimidating but the effect was spoilt as Spyro was several hundred times his size. Cynder tried not to laugh; she had missed Sparx a little bit too, just a little.

"So how'd you go? Pretty good yeah? I taught you a thing or two about winning against impossible odds. And hey, you actually brought back a girl this time! You jealous that I got a girlfriend before you di-"

Sparx looked at Cynder properly; it took him almost a second to match a name to her face.

"Cynder? No way. You are freakin' HUGE! Cynder, it is you!"

"Sparx, you haven't grown at all." Cynder teased.

He glared at her. "What does that mean?" then he realized she was teasing. So he counterattacked "Course Spyro wouldn't have actually got a proper girlfriend. He's not the dating type, but you-"

Cynder changed tactics.

"I've missed you Sparx."

"And I've miss- wait you what? Missed me? You aren't going to hug me or anything are you?" Sparx hovered backwards, Cynder leant forwards. "Stay back nightmare girl, I'm warning you."

"Hug you? Sparx I'm in such a good mood that I could kiss you right now."

"Whoa! That's way out of line, don't you dare!" Sparx tried to fly away but found his way blocked by a wall of air, before he could even panic Cynder kissed him.

"You're crazy!" Sparx yelled. "You always get the crazy ones!" He said to Spyro.

"I got you." Spyro observed.

"Cynder! Why did you do that? It's messed up, you're a dragon and you're all sexy and I already have a girlfriend and I can't deal with this!"

Sparx fled, and then he came back all of three seconds later.

"I have a girlfriend." he kept repeating to himself.

* * *

Eventually the food was eaten. Cynder would have liked to spend the rest of the day with Spyro until their date in the evening, they had a _date!_ She couldn't believe it. But the idea of hanging out with your date before the date seemed to ruin the specialness of the actual date. Sparx didn't help either.

Spyro told Cynder to meet him at sunset in the north city square, he told her he would be waiting for her outside the blacksmith's shop. She wouldn't need to bring anything or eat an early dinner.

Reluctantly Cynder and Spyro said goodbye, Spyro kissed her gently before he left. As the purple dragon turned away Cynder once again had a moment when the light fell on Spyro and made him look like Malefor. She repressed a shiver.

"Spyro? Sometimes you look a little bit…"

Spyro tilted his head as he waited for her to finish. The moment passed again and Spyro looked like Spyro.

"Handsome." Cynder finished. "A little bit handsome. Or a lot. Often. Really. You look handsome Spyro." Cynder finished lamely. Spyro didn't seem to notice her hesitation, he smiled at her. Sparx snickered, but not with malice.

He was handsome though. Spyro with his lean strength, noble bearing, grace, power, his scales, his legs, his waist, he was very handsome indeed. Ahem…

"I think you look beautiful Cynder." And Cynder looked away and Spyro left. Sparx flew after him relentlessly, Cynder heard him teasing.

That had gone well.

* * *

Cynder's next meeting didn't go quite so well. A pink dragoness spotted her from across the room and homed in on her. Cynder glanced at the door, she could have made it, but this time she wasn't going to slink away.

"You didn't really need to come back. It's not like we missed you or anything." The pink dragoness said.

"You have missed me, Ember, but if you had spent as much time throwing fireballs as you did insults then I expect you wouldn't have."

Ember was a fire dragoness with a crush on Spyro that bordered on obsession. She and Cynder hadn't gotten along at all; in fact Ember had been an essential part of the group of dragons who had Cynder into leaving Warfang and Spyro. Ember was slightly taller then Cynder was now and she took pleasure in looking down on the black dragoness. Ember's pretty looks hid a shocking cruel streak, all directed straight at Cynder. Cynder was still bitter against Ember for what she had done to her.

"Oooh, she's so sassy." Ember said mockingly. "I'd forgotten how clever you were, nobody was around to remind me, after you scampered off with your tail between your legs."

If Ember wanted to get personal then Cynder was ready for her.

"It's been three years now, or close enough. I guess we're both still head over heels in love with Spyro. The difference between us, Ember, is that in three years you've done nothing but simper at him and stalk him like a creep, I've been back a day and guess what? Tonight, Spyro and I have a date."

" **[CENSORED]** "

That was just downright nasty.

"Why do you hate me Ember?" Cynder sighed.

"Because you're the black dragon, do I need another reason?"

"Yes. Spyro's purple, you're pink, I'm black. It's not a reason, it's stating the obvious."

"You won't take Spyro from me." Ember leant in close and spoke threateningly. "He's mine."

"Practically every young dragoness in the city says the same thing, what about all the other nice male dragons our age? They're cursing their luck that they live in the same generation as Spyro."

"I don't care about them. Actually, _they_ can have _you_ , seeing as you're so concerned for them."

"What?" Cynder almost couldn't believe she had just heard that. Then it got much worse.

"All of them, they can fuck you and get you out of my way. You'd probably enjoy that though wouldn't you? That's why the Dark Master made you pretty isn't it?"

"That was uncalled for." Cynder said coldly.

"What was uncalled for was when you captured the guardians to free your precious Dark Master."

Cynder was about to respond, possibly with another insult, or simply by ripping Ember's wings off. Whatever she was going to do she missed her opportunity, as she went to move a familiar silky voice interrupted the conversation.

"Girls, girls, let's not do something that we might regret." It was Imperia's voice, but Cynder knew the difference, there was no amusement or warmth in this rebuke, there wasn't even any interest. There was only one dragon it could be. Altia.

The dragonesses looked around; their enmity forgotten for the moment, but the owner of the voice wasn't even in the room.

"Don't start fights with your classmates, Cynder. We don't have patience for that here." The silver dragon walked into the eating room from the far door and slowly made her way across the room towards them, like a snake hypnotising her prey from afar. Cynder wanted to walk away, but couldn't.

"What do you mean classmate?" She asked, using her wind to speak across the room like the other dragoness had.

"Classmates, fellow students of yours at the Dragon Academy. Cynder, we know very little about your education under the Dark Master. To call it patchy would be polite; to call it unpropitious would be accurate. You've been added into a class of your age group for now, until we know where to put you."

In truth Cynder's education had been extraordinarily good, Malefor may have been a monster, but he was also undoubtedly a genius and he had taught Cynder extremely well. Cynder could have argued, but she knew it would be pointless, Alita wouldn't even pretend to listen to her. Cynder didn't like the idea of being "put" but she was starting to worry that she would have no choice in the matter. Then again…

"Don't hold your breath. I'll show up if I feel like it." Cynder said, and then she turned and stalked toward the door. Ember looked like she wanted to pursue, but Altia called her back and spoke to her quietly.

* * *

Cynder wanted to find Imperia. Her meeting with Ember and her apparent enrolment in the Dragon academy were practically forgotten, Cynder had more important things to worry about. What was on her mind was the question of how to make her date with Spyro go well.

After a while Cynder found herself watching a group of three young dragons playing a game. The dragons were about the size and age that she and Spyro had been when they had first met, maybe slightly smaller. The game was quite simple; the young dragons were tapping a small sack of rice up into the air and not letting it fall to the ground. Cynder watched for a minute, curious, soon the rice sack fell to the ground and the young dragons all began laughing and arguing over whose fault it was. Cynder had never done this sort of thing; she had never had a group of friends her own age.

"Can I play?" She found herself asking. The young dragons all looked up in surprise.

"Grownups don't play with us." A red dragon said dismissively.

"One does." A white dragon commented.

"She's different from other grownups though." The red dragon responded.

They thought Cynder was an adult. Cynder admittedly did look like an adult, but she didn't think of herself as one.

"This one wants to play. She seems cool."

"We don't know anything about her. She could be a crazy or something."

"Course we know who she is. She's the Black Dragon."

The young dragons all turned to look at Cynder, she half expected them to run away, but they didn't.

"Are you Cynder the Black Dragon? _The_ Cynder? The genius prodigy, saviour of the whole entire world?"

The dragon who asked was green with horns and wings of black, she was smaller than the others, but when she spoke they deferred to her leadership.

"Yes. I'm Cynder." Cynder said, surprised at the title "Saviour of the whole entire world" She and Spyro had defeated the Dark Master together, but nobody had ever given her much credit for that.

"Poison and Shadow dragoness?" The green dragon continued.

"And wind!" The white dragon added.

"Yes, that's me." Cynder said.

"With a huge ass crush on Spyro the purple dragon?" The green dragoness grinned cheekily.

Cynder blushed but her dark scaled fortunately hid her embarrassment. She nodded, to a chorus of giggles and a well done wolf whistle.

The young dragons made a circle and had a rapid conference before the green dragon came forward with an answer.

"You can play, if you're good enough." She threw the sack of rice at Cynder, who flicked it up easily with the tip of her tail. Cynder took a moment to get used to the new activity, she hadn't done this before, and then she used her dexterous wings to keep the sack off the ground. After a few seconds she found it was actually quite easy.

"No wings." The green dragoness said.

Cynder tucked her wings obediently and used her tail and head to keep going.

"No head."

Cynder used the back of her paws as well as her tail.

"No tail."

"Oh, come on." Cynder muttered, but she still kept the sack up.

"No legs or paws." The red dragon challenged.

What did that leave? Cynder used her wind magic to hold the sack up while she thought.

"Cheating!" The white dragon said. "I can't use my wind, so you can't either!"

"I'm thinking." Cynder said. "And I'm glad to meet another wind dragon."

"I'm a poison dragon, no grownups are glad to meet me." The green dragoness said.

"I've never seen another poison dragon." Cynder said.

"There's just me and my big sister." The green dragon said. "And your thinking time's up."

Cynder caught the sack on her back and knocked it up with a small hop. She caught it again on her waist and bounced it with a swish of her hips. The red dragon was staring at her with a smirk, so rather than catch the sack again Cynder smacked it at his nose.

"Ow!"

The other dragons started laughing.

"She can totally play." The wind dragon said.

* * *

"I see you've met my high council of advisors." A voice sung. Cynder and the other dragons looked up from their game to see Imperia approaching. At the last moment the wind dragoness darted forwards and flicked the forgotten sack of rice back into the air.

"You nearly dropped it!" She laughed.

"Imperia!" The named dragon was tackled from three directions by a trio of enthusiastic hugs. Cynder kept the sack in the air while she watched the dragons greet each other with a smile.

"You're going to squish me! I'm a wind dragon, I need air!" Imperia laughed, the younger dragons released Imperia and re-joined their game.

"So these dragons are in the class that you usually teach?" Cynder asked. Imperia nodded.

"I might have known." Cynder said. "First they think I'm a genius, next they let me join their game, and soon they'll probably have a petition to make me the new Wind Guardian."

"Not happening. I'm gonna be the new Wind Guardian." The young wind dragon said. The others chorused their agreement.

"Your ideas are contagious." Cynder said to imperia.

"All the best ideas are." She smiled. "But if anyone is going to be Wind guardian you can all rest assured it will be me. I'm your teacher, and you should all be showing me more respect."

The poison dragoness got hold of the rice sack and smacked it at Imperia's nose.

"Ow! This is not dignified!"

They laughed at her, but Imperia was laughing at herself too.

"Well timed, Nadder, where did you learn that move?"

The green dragon pointed at Cynder.

"She used it on Spark, it was pretty funny."

"Was not." The red dragon, Spark, grumbled.

"It really was." The white dragon said.

"Then so is this, Stratos." Spark threw the sack at the white dragon, but he caught it easily.

"That wasn't very funny." He said reasonably. Spark leapt at him and the two dragons went down in a tangle of claws, wings and tails.

Imperia and Cynder both looked at each other, then at the fight; before Nadder leapt into the fray as well and broke it up. All three of them were laughing, Cynder realised that this was a regular thing for the three friends, a play fight.

"Come on, Cynder, I want to talk to you." Imperia said.

"Aww…" Cynder and the young dragons all said.

"Come on!" Imperia laughed.

* * *

"So what do you want to talk to me about?"

Imperia let the two dragonesses into her quarters and took a seat on the carpet. She pointed across the room to a weapon mounted on the wall.

"Do you recognize that?"

The weapon Imperia had indicated was a spear, and it was as long as Cynder was, head to tail. It was made of gold and iron; it must have weighed a great deal. The spear had a huge razor sharp blade, almost two metres long and a wide cross guard set behind it, roughly a third of the way down its length. Cynder had only a little experience with dragon weapons, she preferred to fight unarmed, but she knew a spectacular piece of metalcraft when she saw it. She went over to it to look closer.

"Can I touch it?" She asked.

"If you'd like."

Cynder rested her paw on the spear, it was magical, and one of the most enchanted objects Cynder had ever seen. Every sliver of metal in the spear had been infused with extraordinary power.

"It's a spear, one of the weapons made by the Artisans of old, and infused with magic. I don't know it by name, but all weapons of this sort have a name."

"You're quite right. This is The Dragonslayer. As you said it was crafted by the Artisans in the dark ages before our time. Throughout its history more dragons have died upon its blade then the total number of dragons who fell in the war against The Apes. I'll ask another question: What can it do? In battle what would you expect from it?"

Cynder answerd immediately.

"It's a conductor, a lightning rod for dragon magic. A dragon's power would be focused and magnified by its shaft. Not only that, but the metal will counter the elemental attacks of an enemy and use their energy against them. It therefore functions as both an attack and a defence. Like many of the old weapons it has a mind of its own, it will lend its strength to its master in combat, it will return to their hand if taken from them, and it will guide its master's blows as it seeks out death."

"Very nice. How did you learn that?"

Cynder looked away.

"Malefor taught me."

"I thought so. He taught you very well. I'm sure my precious sister had told you that she has arranged for you to join the Dragon Academy, we both know you don't need to go. She wants to keep you and Spyro apart; She and I had a minor disagreement with her over that." Imperia sighed and laid down her head.

"The Dragonslayer draws its power from the dragon who wields it, and their element. Someday I would like to see what it could do in the possession of you or Spyro; your four elements could make The Dragonslayer more powerful than it has ever been."

"I'm not sure I like the idea of fighting with the Dragonslayer."

"It's a mark of wisdom, knowing when you to say no to more power."

The way Imperia said it told Cynder there would be a "But…" She waited for it.

"But getting killed by a more powerful foe then you because you didn't want to accept help is what we would term a mark of stupidity."

"That was very profound."

"I'm glad you thought so."

"So you're offering me the spear?"

"No way! I'm not done playing with it yet, plus that spear cost me… a great deal. No, I was just wondering about the things that Malefor taught you. Congratulations by the way."

"Congratulations?"

"On your date, you two are going to be the cutest couple in Warfang!"

Of course Imperia would know about her date, Imperia was nosy. Cynder sighed and rolled her eyes, she had been planning to ask the older dragoness for help anyway.

"Cutest couple?"

"Warfang's hottest date, I guarantee it."

"I'm not sure I know what you mean."

Imperia waved Cynder confusion aside and went right on gossiping at her.

"Do you know where Spyro is right now?"

"No I don't."

"He's gone to see Volteer for dating advice. I know from experience that date wise, Volteer is the only dragon in Warfang more club-footed then Spyro is. I genuinely can't imagine what is going on in Volteer's chambers at this moment."

Cynder couldnt help but recall her earlier thoughts on kissing practice, and had a sudden perfectly rendered vision of Volteer and Spyro practicing kissing.

It was an interesting picture; with guilty pleasure she filed it away in her mind for later examination, Volteer was not an unattractive dragon.

"You know from experience?"

"Oh yes. He's completely adorable; Volteer is so sweet, any dragoness would be lucky to have him."

"So, do you have dating advice for me?"

"Oh where do I start?" Imperia laughed.

* * *

 **Firstly, I have a gift for you! It's a playlist of songs! I wouldn't just bombard you with random songs, these are all top quality pieces of music and more importantly they are each attached to a character in the story. Yes: THEME MUSIC!**

 **You may have different ideas for theme music then these songs. If so then please share your choices, I love good music.**

 **Playing these isn't a must, but it might improve the effect of my story, so I encourage you to check them out:**

 **Spyro- I Need a Hero**

 **I can't give you a link, but you could find this on YouTube. I always listen to the Shrek 2 version, but that's your choice, its a damn good song any way you play it. Spyro is a hero through and through and this song is moving and catchy, so I feel it suits him very well. I have another song for Spyro, but you'll have to wait for that one.**

 **Cynder- Bleeding Out**

 **A song by Imagine Dragons, and one of my favorite songs EVER. Turn it up and enjoy the epicness! This is foreshadowing, for the record. I had to put this here, because this song is simply extraordinary, it gives me shivers in my spine like practically nothing else. Cynder also gets another song... To be revealed later.**

 **Sparx- Birdhouse in Your Soul**

 **Cuz he's a little glowing friend! This song, by They Might be Giants, I wanted to give to practically everyone in the story at some point, but Sparx won out in the end. This song may be odd, but it's definitely worth a listen.**

 **Imperia- Cup Song: Extreme Edition**

 **Why? It's a nice song. It's by Paint and can also be found on YouTube. The Cup Song is totally up Imperia's street, taking something to it's logical extreme with split screen shenanigans is absolutely her style. Plus it's a beautiful song if you need another reason.**

* * *

 **SECONDARY AUTHORS NOTE:**

 **Such is the way in which word limits are broken. I had a 3500 word maximum, which I have comprehensively failed to keep to in every chapter so far. Now there is no maximum, each chapter will go for as long as it needs to. I feel better now.**

 **Spyro and Cynder's date is worth a whole chapter of course, plus Malefor has a few things to do for himself too... That's next time!**

 **I have finally gotten around to a dedication for this story. I had no idea who to dedicate it to though, so I asked myself: why do I write this? Who do I write it for? Put it that way and it's becomes pretty easy.**

 **I write for you, readers, and for The Warfang Elite community, they're all on my reading list, and their very existence has inspired me. I'm writing for Unit-Omicron in particular, because I'm too busy to hurry up and finish reading his work. I'm writing for DragonWithSword, because his own Spyro story is outstandingly original, and for also dj520, because a week ago my fanfic too was just getting started. I'll also give my amazing sister the credit she deserves, or she'll never forgive me, she was the one who played through Dawn of The Dragon as Spyro while I danced around as Cynder: not pulling levers, accidentally getting catapulted off the map (Malefor's boss battle, no kidding!) and generally being immature, I had abandoned this site, and I would never have found it again without something worth looking for.**

 **Statistically I have almost certainly missed your name, I may not know it and I can't make this dedication go forever, but don't hesitate to apply this dedication to yourself, I want you too. Send me a reveiw, introduce yourself, talk to me! I may even expand my dedication.**

 **In summary: I dedicate this story to the whole Spyro community, and by extension to myself, because without me this story seriously would never have gotten anywhere.**

 **I have a habit of leaving you with a quote. this one isn't as simple as the others but it has a lot of meaning to me.**

 **"Glory isn't won, it is given."**

 **Think about it.**

 **-4Dragons**


	6. A Moment for Two Dragons

Cynder shone, her scales shone with cleanliness, her eyes shone with excitement. Cynder was a picture of pure happiness as she walked towards the setting sun with a spring in her step, on her way to meet Spyro for their date.

Cynder looked stunning and sexy and she knew it. With her slender figure and sinuous curves she stood out among females of any age or species. The natural dancer's grace of her walk was a result of Cynder's years of fighting and razor sharp alertness. The pale moon like markings on her jet black body shimmered softly, she glowed with health. Her breath smelt pleasantly like mint as she had chewed on some leaves before she'd left, the rest of her body smelt like Imperia's lavender scented soap. Everything about Cynder spoke of confidence, competence and contentment.

Cynder's attractive looks turned heads as she walked down the streets of Warfang, but she didn't even notice. She was completely lost in her own world.

On the inside she was terrified.

Put more accurately she was _half_ terrified, petrifying nervousness fought for control of Cynder's mind against an outrageous combination of optimism and euphoria. Cynder had no basis for comparison on how she was feeling, but she had been informed that dates usually felt like this, which was some relief.

Spyro was waiting for her with a shy smile on his face in front of the Blacksmiths shop where he said he would be. Cynder smiled at him as she approached, she expected him to lead her somewhere, but he just sat and gazed at her, so she sat down next to him.

Spyro had removed his bandage, and there was no blemish on his purple scales or golden belly to indicate that he had ever been in combat.

"Hi." Cynder said. Spyro looked away in embarrassment.

"Hi." He replied. There was a moment of silence; Cynder wondered if Spyro had completely forgotten what he had planned for the night.

"Are we going to go somewhere?" She asked eventually.

"Oh! Yes. Somewhere." Spyro said quickly. He got up; Cynder admired the predatory grace that the purple dragon moved with, even his hurried movements didn't truly seem hurried but rather were perfectly timed and carefully choreographed. Cynder rose as well and the two dragons began to walk together slowly, Spyro was just ahead, leading the way. His tail twitched towards hers, she noticed and immediately entwined her tail with his. Neither dragon made a comment, but they both smiled to themselves.

* * *

It didn't take Cynder very long to realize they were being followed. A dragon was on the street behind them, hidden somewhere amongst the evening crowds. Cynder didn't need three guesses; she knew exactly who it would be.

"We're being followed." She said to Spyro. He nodded.

"I know, I'm sorry. It's Ember, a dragoness who fancies me, she sometimes hides and watches me study or eat but she's never been this determined before. I tried to shake her off but she's still kept following me."

"I think that's my fault. I mentioned our date to her; she got really mad about it." Cynder mentally kicked herself for her pride; Ember could ruin their date if not dealt with.

"Can we lose her?" Spyro asked.

"Maybe, but she won't give up easily."

"This isn't exactly going as I planned." Spyro admitted.

"That's because it's always my plans that work." Cynder smiled.

"Oh really?" Spyro said, forgetting about Ember.

"Yes, flooding the gorge to catch the destroyer, that was my plan…" Cynder trailed off, realising that she had no other good examples.

"One mostly successful plan, that's a pretty exhaustive list." Spyro said.

"Let's face it, neither of us are very good planners."

"We've always got the job done though." Spyro said

The two dragons walked along the street, lost in their shared memories. A disturbance behind them made them turn around just in time to see Ember chasing a small red dragon away down the street. The red dragon was cackling with manic laughter.

"I think that red dragon was Ember's cousin. I can't remember his name." Spyro said.

"Spark. I met him earlier and his name is Spark." Cynder said, she had recognised his laugh. Spyro looked at her.

"Did you have something to do with this?"

"Not at all." Cynder said innocently. Spyro gave her a look of disbelief.

"Hey! I had nothing to do with anything!" Cynder protested.

"So you say." Spyro said. Then he glanced at the sky. "Come on, there was something I wanted to show you, we'll need to fly now."

Cynder nodded and the two dragons took to the cool evening air. Spyro was mesmerised by Cynder's flight, the wind dragon seemed to have no need to flap her wings, she moved through the air as if it were water, holding her body up in weightlessness. Cynder turned a little circle in the air as she rose smoothly to a flying altitude; Spyro's heart turned a little circle in his chest. After a moment he recalled that the beautiful black dragoness was waiting for him to lead, and he glided down over the city towards one of the watchtowers. He landed on the watchtower roof and Cynder landed gently beside him.

"I love coming here, for sunrise or sunset, or to watch the moon. Nobody else ever bothers me here." Spyro smiled. "Not even Ember."

The two dragons looked out at the sunset. Cynder had watched many sunsets herself, from the peaks of mountains, the tops of trees or over the sea, but she had never imagined Spyro had been doing the same, far away back in Warfang.

This particular sunset was mostly over, but its ending was spectacular. The storm of the night before had blown far away to the east, leaving behind only torn strips of cloud. The sun itself had faded, but its final crimson light still reflected from those tongues of cloud, which turned the horizon into a tribute of dragon fire. Cynder watched the day end with a slight smile; it had been a long day.

The two dragons sat in comfortable silence as they waited patiently for the last of the light to face from the sky. A cool wind blew across the rooftops and Cynder shivered slightly. She edged closer to Spyro and the purple dragon took her under his wing. His scales were warm and his body was firm, Cynder allowed herself to relax against him.

Aside from fire and ice dragons no other types of dragon tolerated the cold very well, and fire dragons didn't enjoy cold any more than dragons of other elements, Dragons as a species lived in temperate or warm areas, leaving colder places to the civilizations of other species, like the wolves. A dragon's large wings cooled their body temperature rapidly if unfolded. Dragons may have been warm blooded creatures but a dragon, of Cynder's slender proportions in particular, didn't have the body mass to surface area ratio for a self-regulating temperature.

This wasn't relevant to anything in particular, but it was what Cynder was thinking about as she nestled herself under Spyro's wing. She was also thinking about how much she enjoyed being in contact with Spyro, which was very much indeed.

The sky grew dark, and the wind grew colder, Cynder absentmindedly deflected it around the tower. Neither of the two dragons particularly wanted to leave the rooftop, but eventually hunger and the prospect of a more comfortable place to sit lured them back into the streets.

Spyro tucked his wing around Cynder, even though the ground level streets were sheltered from the wind and were still pleasantly warm. They drew stares as the pair walked.

"We're being stared at." Spyro correctly observed.

"The hottest date in Warfang." Cynder said thoughtfully.

"Did someone else call you that?" Spyro asked, a hint of possessiveness in his tone, Cynder shook her head and nudged Spyro's side.

"It has nothing to do with me; it's about our date apparently being the most interesting thing happening in Warfang tonight."

"We aren't really that famous, are we?"

* * *

Spyro took Cynder to a brightly lit shop and led her in, and then he stopped dead in the doorway.

"This isn't right."

"It's a bookshop."

"It's meant to be a restaurant." Spyro said.

"You can try coming back later, if you think it'll help." A lazy voice drawled at them. An earth dragon of about Spyro and Cynder's age hopped around the corner, he held four books, three balanced neatly in his right paw, one held open under his nose in his left. He was reading from that book, and he wore an enormous pair of multi-lensed glasses, like a moles glasses that had been scaled up several times.

"Seizo, what's going on? This is a restaurant."

The dragon looked up from his book and hopped his way behind the desk, putting his books down. He casually switched from green glasses lenses to red ones, and then he smiled.

"Hey Spyro, long time no see. I know that you don't get out much, but this is pretty clearly a bookshop. We moved from our old place to a nicer neighbourhood after the _old_ restaurant closed down, it's much roomier here."

Spyro turned to Cynder.

"I'm so sorry about this, I was certain there was a restaurant here, I can't believe this."

"It's okay, Spyro." Cynder giggled, she couldn't help it. The look on Spyro's face was priceless.

"Volteer said the restaurant was still here, said that I could take you here for a date." Spyro said. "I believed him!"

"Volteer's dates are always disasters. He's famous for that." The earth dragon, whose name had to be Seizo, grinned. "So Spyro are you going to introduce me to your beautiful date?"

"Paws off." Spyro said immediately. Cynder tried and failed to stop giggling.

"Relax Spyro, I have a girlfriend already." Seizo said.

"Not Miasma?" Spyro's interest was perked; Cynder saw there was some history between these two.

"Yes, it's Miasma. I gave her a note written in code; she solved it over lunch and agreed to go out with me on the spot."

"You are a weird dragon, you know that?"

"Course, so are you going to do introductions?"

"Sure." Spyro turned to Cynder. "This eccentric earth dragon is Seizo, one of my best friends. He's apprenticed to become the next Earth Guardian and we met when we were training together under Terrador. He's nice enough, but don't get him started on self-help books or you'll never hear the end of it."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Cynder said, the bespectacled earth dragon bowed to her.

"The pleasure is all mine." Seizo said.

"Not all of it." Cynder smiled. Spyro coughed meaningfully.

"And my date is Cynder, who needs little introduction."

"You've talked my ears off about Cynder." Seizo said to Spyro, he looked at Cynder. "I've heard a lot about you, all good things of course."

"Of course." Cynder said.

"So you two are finally out on a date? Well done Spyro, you've stuffed it up now."

"Not yet he hasn't." Cynder said.

"Wow, you're pretty forgiving. "A" for effort and all that. Perhaps I can help you guys; we've got cookbooks, romance stories, even dating advice books." Seizo hopped up on the table and grabbed a book off a shelf.

"Where to Put It: A young dragon's complete guide to-"

"I don't think so." Spyro said loudly.

"-or for pleasure" The green dragon finished reading and shrugged. "It's had really positive reviews too."

"We're going now." Spyro turned towards the door.

"Wait! Don't go yet! I was kidding, I want to help you. Gimme just a second."

The green dragon turned and yelled into the depths of the bookshop.

"BOOKWORM! BOOKWORM COME HERE!"

A mole emerged from somewhere behind a bookshelf and looked over the situation.

"What are you yelling about Seizo? Oh, hello Spyro, and Cynder, what's going on?"

"Spyro and Cynder are on a date." Seizo said. "They thought we were still a restaurant. Are there any good restaurants around here?"

"Sometimes a big outdoor sign reading "bookshop" just doesn't quite say it." The mole told the dragons. "I've been to most of the restaurants in Warfang and I can't recommend most of them, the good ones are always booked out too." The mole pondered for a moment. "You're welcome to eat with us." He said.

Spyro and Cynder glanced at each other, silently agreeing that eating dinner with a random family of moles was not a romantic prospect.

"We wouldn't want to impose." Spyro said, halfway towards leaving the shop.

The mole read their expressions surprisingly well, or maybe he just guessed what the dragon couple was thinking.

"You wouldn't fit at our table, Glasses here is about all of the dragon we can cram into the dining room."

"They aren't glasses!" Seizo insisted. The mole gave him a look which clearly said that they most definitly were glasses, and finished explaing to Spyro and Cynder.

"What I was thinking was that the two of you might like to go up to the rooftop garden. It's quiet, private and nice up there, just have a look at it, stairs at the back, third floor, first door on the left."

Spyro looked at Cynder, who shrugged and smiled, and the two dragons allowed themselves to be led into the back of the bookshop and up to the roof. Cynder assumed the mole might be called Bookworm but she really wasn't sure about that, she didn't know the first thing about mole named. Whatever his name was, the mole left the dragon couple at the door after telling them that dinner would be about fifteen minutes away, if they wanted to stay.

* * *

"It's beautiful up here." Cynder said with delight and some surprise.

The garden was a peaceful space which looked out over a pleasant stone courtyard. On three sides it was walled by high stone buildings, but on the fourth it simply opened into the sky. A lattice roof woven with carefully tamed ivy covered about half of the area. The architecture was simple and structured and very distinctive to Warfang. Cobbled paths divided the garden beds and patches of green lawn into a tasteful geometric pattern.

"This is sort of familiar." Cynder said thoughtfully. "Have we been here before?" She walked to the edge and looked over the square. Spyro joined her, and then he hummed in surprise and acknowledgement.

"We have been here, during the Dark Master's attack on Warfang. That building that nearly burnt down, that we saved the moles from, it's just over there!"

Cynder looked at the building in question, and then she nodded.

"It is isn't it? Isn't it strange? I had never imagined coming back here, certainly not like this."

The two dragons sat at the edge, Cynder glanced at Spyro and saw that he was looking at the stars; his eyes were focused on the dragon constellation that hung there.

"We know that it appeared in the sky after the defeat of Malefor, but we don't know anything else about it really. What sort of force could move the stars themselves?" Spyro wondered.

"I know that the wolves fear it, and hide when it rises into the sky. I know that a line to the horizon directly from its tail tip star is a line two degrees west of true north. I know that whenever I look at it I think of you, Spyro. I wouldn't say we know nothing about it."

Spyro looked at her, and edged closer. Cynder allowed him to gently rested his head on her shoulder.

"What do you think about it?" He asked. Cynder looked up again.

"A part of me wonders if it's Malefor. It makes me wonder if his spirit is free of the darkness now, if he's at peace."

"I don't think its Malefor." Spyro said.

"Ignitus." Cynder whispered.

"I miss him." Spyro said sadly. "He was the first dragon I ever met."

Cynder comforted the purple dragon as best she could.

* * *

"You're still here then? We didn't scare you guys off. That's good, I brought you dinner." Spyro and Cynder looked around to see Seizo bearing a huge cart wheel sized plate of steaming… something, Cynder didn't have the faintest idea what it was, worms maybe?

"What is that stuff?" Cynder asked. "It looks weird, but it sure smells nice."

"Moles eat it a lot. It's called spaghetti. It's really nice, but you may find it hard to eat, moles have little silver swords and tridents to eat it with but we dragons can't use those. I'll leave you guys to figure it out."

Seizo grinned at them as he departed, leaving Cynder and Spyro with their food.

The two dragons might not have eaten it if they had known that their dinner had come at the expense of the entire family of moles in the building below them. The moles didn't mind however, they were already cooking more food for themselves. One mole jumped up on the table and started doing a dance that he proudly declared he had done while Spyro and Cynder had helped him repair his catapult during the battle for Warfang.

While the moles cooked and ate their new dinner below Spyro and Cynder puzzled over their own dinner up above. Picking up the spaghetti was nearly impossible so the two dragons ate it off the plate. Cynder snapped small bites, cutting the trailing ends of the spaghetti off. Spyro, the hero of dignity, found a more efficient approach; he simply took a huge bite and inhaled everything he had gotten hold of. Cynder noticed Spyro's eating pattern, so the purple dragon stopped eating so badly. Cynder looked at him with amusement and started using the same technique. Spyro smiled and the two dragons ate their strange dinner and licked the plate clean.

The two dragons sat back at the edge of the garden, looking down into the streets. A few moles and dragons passed by, but none looked up. Cynder began to hum quietly, Spyro vaguely recognised the song. He sat in silence for a while, and then he turned to Cynder and sighed.

"I'm sorry I haven't been romantic enough." Spyro said. Cynder stopped humming in surprise.

"What do you mean?"

"We've been stalked down the street because I can't tell a dragon "no" and we've had to be fed by a family of moles because I misplaced a restaurant."

"It sounds bad when you put it that way."

"It was bad." Spyro insisted.

As one of two dragons and therefore half of the date, Cynder knew that she was an active participant in the night, up until now she had allowed herself to be swept along by Spyro. He had done an amazing job all things considered, Cynder wasn't going to allow him to fail now, and she'd been expecting this.

There was no way that tonight was going to end in disappointment for them, Cynder would not allow it.

It was just as scary as she'd expected. Three little words, so easy to say.

How could she say them? What if he didn't… something?

Cynder didn't know, couldn't know, but she realised that this time she just had to take a leap of faith.

She just had to hope that Spyro would be there to catch her.

"It wasn't bad Spyro. You've done perfectly, I can't imagine you failing. All you had to do was be here for me. You've done more than that, you've amazed me Spyro."

She was so close to her precious words, so, so close. How could others find it so easy to say them?

"You couldn't have done wrong Spyro, your heart is in the right place and my heart belongs to you. I love you Spyro, I've never stopped loving you, and I never will. I love you."

"Cynder…" Spyro looked at her, unsure.

Oh no he wasn't going to say it. Cynder's heart stopped, he wasn't going to-

"I love you too, Cynder."

* * *

Cynder made a small whimpering sound, and then she flung herself at the purple dragon and held him as if she would never let him go.

Spyro caught the dragoness and folded her into his embrace and kissed Cynder forehead gently.

"Does the date seem better if we put it this way?" Cynder asked her beloved hero.

Spyro didn't answer with words. He simply drew her head up to his and looked into Cynder's green eyes and then Spyro gave Cynder the deepest, kindest, most passionate, most loving, kiss that she had ever experienced.

Spyro pulled Cynder closer and supported her body as she surrendered to the kiss, she was kissing Spyro in return, first gently, and then with such joyful enthusiasm that she surprised even herself. Kissing Spyro was a dizzying high. Emerging bloody and triumphant from a desperate fight, breathing deeply to unleash a blazing fury of magic, this one, single, world breaking kiss meant more to Cynder then everything she had ever done, it was her moment.

Their moment.

* * *

Far away another dragon turned away from the dark horizon. The storm had rolled in with vengeance; it must have come from Warfang in the west. Thoran only knew that because the rain wasn't snow, but the miserable mountains above Darkmire's tomb were caught in the frigid grasp of winter. Any storm from another direction would have brought hail and misery with it, but this one was melting the ice into slurry.

Exposure to the elements out there could potentially kill a lightning dragon, but Thoran wished with all his heart that the crevice slit in the fortresses wall was large enough to fit a dragon. He would prefer to crawl out of it and return to the skies where he belonged, but there was only one exit from Darkmire's tomb.

There were no more guards, they were all gone, Thoran hadn't killed them all and there were no corpses. They had simply gone. He hadn't escaped in time.

He could sense the trap waiting for him but it didn't slow his step. Thoran kicked open the final doors to the main antechamber of the fortress. Malefor turned and considered him.

"My guest, I'm glad you've arrived. Make yourself comfortable, please."

Thoran looked for the first time at the ancient purple dragon. Spyro and Cynder had been the only two dragons ever to see him and live, but neither one would have immediately recognised the same dragon three years later.

The Malefor that Spyro and Cynder had together defeated at the world's ending was gone. The Malefor that Thoran met in the fortress was several shades lighter, only slightly darker than Spyro himself was. Once the Dark Master had looked possessed, demonic, a bestial force. This Malefor was of indeterminate age, ageless; he seemed both younger and older than Thoran was. His eyes were no longer yellow and snakelike, but whirling, evolving ever changing violet storms. The purple dragon looked _alive_.

The former lightning guardian had been expecting fire, brimstone and death. He had been expecting something scary. Malefor _was_ scary, but not in the same sense. Malefor had an aura of pure power, Thoran could feel it, and he knew he was in the presence of a dragon with abilities akin to those of a god. According to legend Malefor was one of the spirits of the Ancestors, who all dragons worshiped. Standing in the presence of the purple dragon Thoran could almost believe it.

Malefor waited a moment for the lightning dragon to respond, but when he didn't the purple dragon turned back to the scroll he had unrolled and carefully dipped his claw in ink to write on it. Thoran came closer warily; positioning himself on the other dragon's left hindquarter, where he would have the advantage against a surprise melee attack. Malefor didn't seem to care; the thought of fighting against the lightning dragon had barely even crossed his mind.

The purple dragon spoke again, in a rich, deep voice. It was pleasant, but raw from lack of use, not unlike Thoran's own voice.

"The Sigils, powerful anti-magic, but useless it would seem. What do they stop? Using dark crystals to absorb _all_ mana would appear to be more effective. A fascinating prison they have chosen for us, wouldn't you agree?"

Thoran didn't agree, he found fascination in death and there was only one dragon here left to kill.

How to kill a god? An interesting new question for the psychopathic guardian dragon.

Thoran knew little of Malefor's powers, but he did know that the dragon had sworn to destroy the world, and Thoran couldn't allow that. The purple dragon appeared physically weaker then Thoran, not _weak_ by any means, but merely average in melee combat by dragon terms, the lightning dragon decided. The threat would be his magic attacks, Ice, Fire, Lightning, Earth and any other eldritch powers that the purple dragon could bring to bear against him. A devastating melee attack then, cut the spine with claws; impale the heart with the tail blade, fry the brain with a Thunderlance, not even the legendary Malefor could walk away from that.

Perhaps.

* * *

Thoran moved like his beloved lightning, his attack was flawless; Malefor hadn't even put up any defences, his distraction was a fatal mistake.

Thoran's paws hit, his long claws bit, a deep slash drew crimson blood, the slash turned into a gash and Thoran sensed the electrical impulses in Malefor's spine cut out. Thoran's tail blade smashed into and through the purple dragon's belly, just between his ribs, right where Thoran meant it to go. Malefor screamed and Thoran howled with delight.

The electrical impulses Thoran had sensed were the target of the Thunderlance; lightning exploded from Thoran's body and incinerated Malefor's nerves on its way to his skull. There was no kill like overkill.

There was a flash of purple and the dragon vanished. Thoran looked around in surprise, all that was left was blood on his claws and a faint howl of pain.

"You tried to kill me." Malefor said from behind him. Thoran swung his tail blade, but the dragon was on the other side of the room. Thoran realised he had used some wind trickery to speak directly into his ear. Violet energy flickered around Malefor's injuries, and they healed themselves as Thoran watched.

"It was a respectable effort. Misplaced I feel, why did you do that?" Malefor didn't exactly sound angry, or concerned, but he seemed displeased.

"You want to destroy the world. I can't let you do that." Thoran grated at him. He expected to die now, but found that he didn't particularly care. He created a devastating lightning bolt on his tail and hurled it at the purple dragon. A veil of earth cloaked Malefor and diverted the lightning. Thoran tried to call on lightning to launch an attack that would prove more difficult to counter, but the mana he needed wasn't there, Malefor had done something to his magic.

"It's pointless; I can use my earth element to counter everything you can possibly throw at me. I was right however, your aggression is misplaced. I never wanted to destroy the world, I've simply spent most of my life fighting a little duel with destiny. I'd explain it all to you, but I don't think you would understand. Now: I allowed you to visit me for a reason; I have a deal for you, would you like to hear it?"

"No, I'd like my magic back so I can kill you. You bleed like any other dragon, despite your powers." Thoran inspected the blood on his claws, a single purple scale had been torn from Malefor's neck, and Thoran put it in his jaws and crunched it. Then he spat it out at the other dragon.

Malefor looked slightly angry now.

"Perhaps you'd like to fight me? By all means, attack me, try to kill me." Malefor invited. He rose to his full height and waited.

Thoran felt his power surge back to him, immediately he charged forwards to hit the purple dragon with a Thunderlance. There was a flash of purple and in a single moment Thoran was lying on the ground, a blazing pain in his muzzle and Malefor's clawed foot standing on his head, razors inches from his eyes.

In a single moment, Thoran thought. He moves faster than Time itself. So this was the power of Dragon Time, the power that made Malefor unbeatable, how do you kill a dragon that can't be taken by surprise?

"I win, now we can talk like civilized dragons." Malefor growled. He allowed the lightning dragon to stand again. "There's something you want, a weapon. I have an informant who has located it for you. I expect that you would like to retrieve it. Doing so will be simple, two young dragons are coming here; One purple and one black. Their names are Spyro and Cynder and they will be taking the northern road past Dante's Freezer. Wait here for a day, one day should be enough. Take the same road west, you will tell them that I have gone to The Catacombs under the waterfall cave; they will know where I mean. Ask them about your weapon, they will tell you where it is."

"Why would I help you, O Dark Master?" Thoran said sarcastically. Malefor crossed the room with dragon time; Thoran never saw the blow coming. His head snapped back under the impact, but he had been hit harder than this before, it was the knowledge of how truly hopeless his position was that was the threat behind the attack. The Electricity Guardian was out of his depth, Malefor was just proving it.

"My name is Malefor. You will call me nothing else; nobody will know me by _that_ name ever again." Pure fury blazed through the purple dragon. After a moment however, he calmed down and turned away from Thoran. "You have only a small role in my plan, but I allow you to go about your way unhindered. Show some consideration, be respectful, and just do as I have asked you."

Thoran nodded warily. It was true that the purple dragon had been obliging enough, even affable. With some reservations he decided to trust the purple dragon.

"And are you going to the waterfall cave?"

"No." Was the simple reply, then the purple dragon paused and with a slight sign of humor in his voice, the first sign of genuine dragon nature Thoran had seen from him, Malefor added "But don't tell them that."

Malefor floated into the air, moving as if he weighed nothing at all. The doors opened at his will and he accelerated into the sky with the rain parting around him. In truth he _was_ going to The Catacombs, albeit briefly, he had to set up a surprise present for the two dragons that would come looking for him there, just a little test of their skills.

Malefor smiled as he flew; this was _his_ moment.

* * *

 **This chapter was a study in contrasts. At times it was made by pure inspiration but at other times it was a veritable nightmare. I'm proudest of this chapter so far, but I also was the most concerned (even scared) about posting it.**

 **"I love you" seems so easy to say. I can sit back and say it now all I want without any problems (except people looking at me weirdly(Yes, I _love you too,_ now go away)), but Cynder had to suffer a great deal to say it and I was suffering right beside her. I have never felt more for Cynder then in this chapter.**

 **I had meant for this to be shorter, but there was no possible way that I was going to cut the date, so word limits remain as guidelines, not actual rules.** **I've also decided to change this story's genre from Adventure to Romance.**

 **I'll be on holiday next week, this could mean LOTS of writing time or none at all, depending on factors I can't control. I'm trying to post one chapter each week, but no guarantees for next week I'm afraid.**

 **"The most difficult conflicts are those within us"**

 **-4Dragons**


	7. Before the Storm

**I apologise for the minor delay, plenty of writing time was had, but little posting time.**

 **I'm pleased that people have liked the songs I suggested, I wasn't expecting such a response with that. The song Cynder hums last chapter will be referenced later. I wrote the early part of this chapter listening to "Love is easy" by McFly on repeat no fewer then nine times. It's corny I'll admit, but it's nice music and it was helpful. Worth a listen!**

 **Story now:**

* * *

Two dragons lay side by side in bed, but they weren't Spyro and Cynder.

"You didn't _sleep_ with him!"

"But did I do anything else wrong?"

"You _didn't sleep_ with him!"

"Oh get over it! I didn't sleep with him!"

"Okay then. In all seriousness telling him that he looked like Malefor right before the date ended was another small screw-up."

"Did you even listen? I didn't tell him that! I've only told you, now you tell me: Did I do anything wrong?"

"You didn't mate with him!"

"I'm not coming to you for this sort of thing ever again."

"Aww… Cynder…"

"You are _so_ immature." Cynder told Imperia.

"I am."

"You are."

There was a brief pause.

"…You did'n-"

"Shut up! There's always tonight!" Cynder yelled, and then she blushed. Imperia grinned at her with delight.

"That's my girl."

"I hate you."

"Not yet you don't." Imperia laughed.

"This conversation is over." Cynder decided. She rose from the bed and Imperia uncurled her tail from where she had been holding the smaller dragoness during the night. Cynder arched her back and stretched out her body and wings with a lazy sigh. There was no rush for her, dawn had only just broken and she was content. She had slept later then she usually did, Cynder liked watching the sunrise, but not this time.

"I was thinking we'd go to the canteen for breakfast. If we go within the hour it'll be nice and quiet, we may even meet up with Spyro. He usually eats early." Imperia told Cynder, the older dragon hadn't bothered to get up yet.

"Let's go then." Cynder said straight away. Imperia rolled over and tucked her head under her wing.

"Ten more minutes."

"I'll leave without you."

"So?" Imperia asked.

Cynder smiled, she knew how to motivate the silvery dragon.

"You'd miss me saying good morning to Spyro."

Imperia leapt out of bed immediately.

"Not for the world."

* * *

Sadly the canteen was empty; there was no Spyro or anyone else. Imperia organised breakfast and the two dragonesses talked as they ate. Cynder allowed Imperia to interrogate her further, the dragoness could probably have written a respectable book about Cynder's date. Thinking about that reminded Cynder of something.

"Spyro and I were stalked down the street." She said.

"Ooh, drama! Who, when, why, where?" Imperia responded playfully.

"I think you could tell me." Cynder said. Imperia flicked her wings and tapped her claws thoughtfully.

"Perhaps a certain overly possessive fire dragoness?" She enquired.

"Something inexplicable happened while she was following us." Cynder paused, hoping for a reaction.

"I'm waiting for an explanation." Imperia smiled.

"What a coincidence. I'm waiting for a confession."

"Oh, I like that!" Imperia said approvingly. "I admit… I may have ah… encouraged… one of my students to annoy his cousin last night."

Cynder nodded in satisfaction, she had thought so.

Cynder habitually used the wind to sense movement in her surroundings at all times, Imperia had taught her how to use the skill and Cynder had honed the power into a sixth sense through constant use. She sensed a dragon shaped form enter the room and felt it immediately make for the two dragonesses in their corner.

Imperia's eyes flickered towards the door and her eternal smile grew, if that was even possible. Cynder resisted the urge to look around. She was kept in suspense for almost a second, and then a gentle wing touched her tail and stroked up her back to her shoulder. Cynder looked around and received a kiss of greeting.

The kiss was small and simple, but it gave Cynder butterflies anyway, she decided she liked this new type of greeting very much.

"Good morning Cynder." Spyro said. His wing was tucked over her and he rested his head and paw on her shoulder. It wasn't quite enough for Cynder's tastes, so she stepped closer and gently pressed her body against Spyro's, wrapping her tail around him. This put the two dragons in quite an intimate position, particularly considering where Spyro had rested his paw and head. Spyro accepted the sensual contact with pure affection and Cynder proudly allowed her new boyfriend to sit with her. Imperia practically radiated her approval.

Cynder could feel his powerful steady heartbeat in her hip and waist; she couldn't help but keep track of it, counting in her head. She felt like purring.

"So you're officially dating now?" Imperia asked.

The two dragons didn't even need to glance at each other.

"Yes." They said at exactly the same time. Imperia almost glowed in delight.

The three dragons spent a moment in comfortable silence.

"Thanks for helping us out on our date, by the way." Spyro said with a smile.

"Not you too, Cynder just finished pulling a confession out of me." Imperia sighed.

Cynder hummed in pride and rubbed her shoulder against Spyro's chest.

"You're welcome, anyway." Imperia grumbled.

"This is going to be a good day, I think." Cynder smiled.

She was right, but she was also wrong.

* * *

The first problem was Cynder's enrolment in the dragon academy, not that this was enough to spoil her mood. According to Imperia Cynder could risk getting arrested if she didn't go, so she had to at least _show up._ Spyro promised to join the class after he had eaten his breakfast, which made Cynder happy. Spyro wasn't technically in the class, despite being in their age group. He explained that he had graduated with mastery in all four of his elements almost a year ago, with what Cynder considered charming modesty, but what could also possibly be called embarrassment.

Imperia and Cynder left together, Imperia had something to attend to apparently, but before she left she had a quiet conversation with Cynder.

"This dark Spyro moment thing you mentioned. It's when he puts his paws together and tilts his head. It's like a cloud passes over the sun and he falls into shadow. Is that what you're talking about?"

"Yes. Have you seen it too?"

"A few times."

"What does it mean?"

"I'm not sure, but I am sure that Spyro would never hurt you. If he's looking like The Dark Master then that would be a bad sign, you'll need to keep an eye on him for me."

"Spyro's a hero."

"I agree."

Cynder said goodbye to Imperia and shook the conversation out of her head. She decided to deal with it later, as she was feeling irrationally happy and wanted to keep that feeling for as long as she could. She was _dating_ Spyro! Finally!

* * *

Cynder was rather late after finding out that her class had been moved to the Colosseum on the other side of the city. But this couldn't stop Cynder's cheerful mood. She took her time flying down from the Dragon temple on the hill to the lower section of Warfang where the Colosseum was located.

Cynder loved flying, she loved the feeling of the air rushing around her, her powerful magic could control the wind and bend it to her will, the wind was her friend. She loved being able to circle and look around from high above the world. The sun warmed her black scales as she flew. Flying made Cynder feel in control, up here she could dance and spin, rise and fall, shout and laugh and nobody could ever stop her from doing what she wanted to do. Cynder folded her wings and dropped out of the sky, even in freefall with her winds tightly tucked Cynder still felt free and safe.

The street outside the Colosseum was crowded with dragons, moles and even a few cheetahs and wolves. Cynder's sharp eyes picked the perfect landing spot and she spread her wings to land gently in the crowd. Her arrival caused a small stir in the crowd; some hurried on their way or stopped to look at the infamous black dragon. Cynder ignored them and wandered into the Colosseum.

* * *

The first dragon Cynder saw as she strode through the Colosseum doors was, of course, Ember. That was annoying and it put a few cracks into Cynder's good mood. Cynder faltered for a moment. There were nine dragons in the class, including the teacher who was an older ice dragon. Two vaguely familiar girls flanked Ember, a wispy slender earth dragon and a graceful spiked ice dragon, Cynder didn't recall their names, but she was fairly confident that they hated her.

Two fire dragons who looked like polar opposites were also nearby, one was a smallish dragon of crimson, Cynder recalled his name was Flame; she had liked his moxie, and had liked that he nether judged her or annoyed her. The other was a formidable looking dragon whose colour was close to orange, he was taller than the teacher, definitely the largest dragon in the class. His name escaped her, but she seemed to remember him being a complete and total jerk. A lightning dragon with a long ridge of spine scales rounded out that group, it looked like he had a sail on his back, Cynder remembered him being withdrawn and easily annoyed. A wave from the back of the class drew Cynder's attention to the final two dragons in the arena.

Seizo had waved, the earth dragon had pulled a book out of a simple cloak he wore and had waved it at her. He flipped it open, switched lenses on his glasses, and started reading as Cynder walked over. The last dragoness in the class was a petite creature of dark green; she had horns, claws and wings of jet black as well as a complicated smoky pattern of the same colour on her green scales. The dragoness gave Cynder a shy smile.

"Hi." Cynder said, returning the smile. The green dragon went to speak, but seemed unable to make words, she gave Seizo a nudge. The earth dragon put away his book and introduced the girls, in a roundabout way of course.

"Cynder, I sort of figured you'd have to come here for a while, I doubt you'll be here long though. Welcome to the tenth and final year of the dragon academy, the class of the ice dragon Master Reon: esteemed winner of the Most Boring Professor in Dragon History Award. If there's ever been a dragon more boring than he is… well, we wouldn't know about them, because we've all slept through every history class Reon has ever given."

The green dragoness nudged Seizo again to get him back on topic.

"You may recall our meeting last night, I gave a few neat one liners if I recall correctly. I mentioned my girlfriend to Spyro and this is her. Her name is Miasma, and she's a poison and shadow dragon, the only one to ever grace Warfang, and the only one anyone has ever heard of actually. Besides you of course."

The dragoness nodded shyly to Cynder.

"She's only like this around new people; she'll become chatty enough if you give her a few hours." Seizo assured Cynder, Miasma gave him an offended nudge.

"Do you know a young dragoness called Nadder?" Cynder asked her. Miasma looked at her with surprise.

"Myria, she makes everyone call her Nadder but her name is Myria. She's my little sister."

"She mentioned having a sister." Cynder said. "I never thought I'd meet a poison dragon my age, and I definitely never thought I'd meet a poison _and_ shadow dragon. We should talk sometime." Cynder said with a kind smile. Miasma looked at Seizo.

"She'd love to." Seizo said. "She just doesn't want to seem too keen."

"Is that really what you mean?" Cynder asked. Miasma shrugged and nodded.

"Close enough." She murmured.

* * *

Cynder was almost enjoying herself, Master Reon was explaining how a dragon challenge worked, teaching the class about the rules for the challenger and the challenged dragon. It wasn't hugely interesting, but the conversation that she and Seizo, and to a small degree Miasma, were having made up for it.

Then Ember came over and joined them.

"So how was your date? Did Spyro conquer the terror of the skies?"

Cynder didn't dignify that with a response, it wasn't worth it. Ember believed that Cynder was a shape shifting, treacherous, psychotic monster with a purple dragon fetish, and arguing wouldn't change her mind any time soon.

"It can't have gone that well, or Spyro would have escorted his little girlfriend to her class." Ember added.

"He's fashionably late." Cynder said.

"He fashionably ditched you I think." Ember replied. "Just like he should have."

"He's just over there actually." Seizo added his input to the conversation.

Only Spyro, Cynder thought, would walk into class with such perfect timing.

Cynder felt happier immediately and as Spyro saw her and went straight towards her the feeling grew stronger. In front of everyone in the class Spyro touched tails with her and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

Ember looked like she'd been hit in the face with a brick.

Cynder tried not to look too satisfied, the pink dragoness seemed about to cry. Spyro, being Spyro, decided he had to find some way to diffuse the situation. The purple dragon drew breath to speak, inwardly he knew that it would only make everything worse, but he had to try. Fortunately for all involved Spyro didn't get the chance to reason with Ember, Master Reon had noticed the new arrival and came over to find out what was going on.

"Master Spyro, this is quite irregular. Why are you here?" The ice dragon said.

"I'm not a master." Spyro said with surprise. "I'm temporarily re-joining the class under the authority of Volteer." He added politely. Reon frowned.

"You don't need to be here, Spyro. You've completed your education." He said. Spyro nodded.

"I know, I wanted to be here."

"Very well then." Reon threw a glance at Cynder as he spoke.

By the time the ice dragon had gone Ember had retreated back to her group of friends, but she was staring at Cynder with renewed hostility.

Reon continued talking.

"Any dragon can be formally challenged, and it is customary for the dragon who issues the challenge to decide what, if anything, is to be decided by the outcome of the match. But let's not forget that the dragon that is challenged has rights too. A dragon can name a champion; decide on a challenge location and choose the time and rules. The defendant defines the challenge, the weapons and any restrictions. Both sides are given the chance to argue the terms of the challenge, if they feel it is unreasonable, but to do so is considered dishonourable and has been for the past two centuries. Before then debates before challenges could last for weeks, but now it's usually a three step process-"

"Master Reon?" A dragon interrupted.

"Yes, Ember?" Reon said with annoyance.

"Can _any_ dragon be challenged?"

"I did just say that, did I not?"

"And the stakes for victory and defeat for the challenge are decided by the challenger?"

"Yes, which is why th-"

"Then I challenge Cynder!"

* * *

"This isn't right! Ember what are you doing?" Spyro shouted. "It's not fair."

Three dragons had challenged Cynder.

Ember was crying and she looked like she was on the edge of some sort of mental breakdown. Her friend the earth dragoness had immediately challenged Cynder as well; she was looking at the black dragoness with fury. The ice dragoness had done the same with an air of disdain, she seemed almost detached from the argument.

Spyro had leapt in front of Cynder protectively and immediately tried to make them reconsider, but there was no stopping the three dragons.

"For Spyro." Ember sobbed. "If I win, you leave him alone!"

"Please don't do this, Ember." Cynder said. "It won't help any of us."

"You don't deserve him!" The earth dragoness shouted. "Spyro's too good for you!"

"And you three are going to stop me? He's a hero and he's mine!"

"I just challenged you to see if you could keep him." The ice dragoness said. "If you can't, then maybe you don't deserve him after all."

"I won't be fought over!" Spyro roared, the force of his outburst scaring all the girls into silence. "Ember, what are you trying to prove? Why are you doing this?"

"It will prove that I love you!" Ember cried.

Spyro softened his expression, but there was still anger in his eyes.

"I don't love you back Ember. I'm sorry I have to say it like this, but it's the truth. No matter what deal you and Cynder make, and no matter who wins if you two fight, in the end it's my choice and I've chosen Cynder. You can't change that."

Ember held back tears and stood tall.

"I won't ever give you up Spyro." She swore.

Spyro turned back to Cynder, recognising that he wasn't going to be able to reason with the others.

"Just refuse the challenge; it's within your rights. There will be no dishonour."

"You know I can't do that Spyro, it's just not in my nature. I'm too proud and we both know it."

"Please refuse." Spyro whispered.

Cynder hesitated for a long moment, or perhaps she hesitated for a moment too long, because as she opened her mouth to back down from the challenge she heard the earth dragoness call her a cruel name. It was unfortunate that using her wind magic gave Cynder such good hearing.

Being called the Terror of the Skies, Cynder didn't mind. It had been true once, until she had lost her power. It had hurt her when it was being used to mock her weakness, but in the years since then Cynder had grown stronger, and as she had grown and trained herself to regain her former strength she had found being called the Terror of the Skies was no longer hurtful, it was simply a mark of her power.

She'd been called The Dark Master's puppet, sometimes the word puppet was replaced with much less flattering terms, but Cynder couldn't care less about those names either.

There was just one name that Cynder couldn't ignore, the name that had chased Cynder from Warfang. It crept inside her head and clawed at her mind, it was cruel, it was unforgettable and it might, _might_ , once have been true. Cynder couldn't be sure, and the uncertainty made it all just that much worse.

The name Cynder had been called was "the Egg Eater"

"I accept the challenge. I accept all three, and I'll fight all three of you at once." Cynder said coldly. Then she continued in a scathing voice. "In fact, I don't think that the three of you are enough."

"What are you doing?" Spyro hissed at her.

"The earth dragon, what's she called?"

"Flora."

"She called me by _that name_." Cynder said, Spyro knew the name that she had been called, and she knew he hated it as much as she did. "I can't let that go." She said, and she knew that Spyro understood her.

Cynder raised her voice to address the other dragons. "Is there anyone else who has a problem with me?"

"Nero?" Flora said, looking at the electric dragon.

The electric dragon considered the situation.

"Perfect, one dragon from each of the four guardian elements, this might even be a challenge." Cynder said.

The electric dragon looked at her with irritation and stepped forward to join her opponents. The bigger fire dragon came forwards as well, Cynder didn't mind in the slightest.

"You're outnumbered five to one. If you won't refuse the challenge then at least let me fight with you." Spyro whispered to Cynder.

"I've faced worse odds then this. I'll be okay Spyro." Cynder promised.

"I don't like this. Ember isn't our enemy."

"I know, I'll try not to hurt them." She said, Spyro sighed.

"Good luck, Cynder. I believe in you." Spyro said, and he kissed her.

Cynder kissed Spyro in return for what felt like not nearly long enough, and then he flew to the stands while she turned back to the others.

"No magic, no lethal techniques, full contact and no time limit. Those are the rules, oh and defeat is by knockout only, there is no surrender. Spyro will mediate the match."

The others nodded.

Five dragons against one, impossible odds surely, even for a dragon like Spyro. Without the use of their elemental abilities Spyro and Cynder were perfectly ordinary dragons, and one dragon wouldn't stand a chance against five.

"One moment!" Seizo ran forwards and hissed information to Cynder.

"The big guy is Feyer, he's a threat, mind your distance because he'll charge at you. Ice dragon is the second most dangerous, her defence is excellent. They've both beaten me at times. The others only practice full contact once each week, they aren't used to violence. Ember could cheat, be careful of her. Nero and Flora shouldn't pose a problem if you're careful. Good luck and forgive me if I don't kiss you."

"I've got it, thanks." Cynder replied.

"Are you done yet?" The fire dragon asked impatiently. Cynder looked around the arena, it was plain, covered with sand, and there was plenty of room. The dragons who weren't in the challenge vacated the ground and Spyro took position by the hourglass.

She felt no fear, being outnumbered didn't concern her. It wasn't five against one; it was five common dragons against one Cynder. Cynder was not an ordinary dragon, she'd been fighting all her life and her battle skills were razor sharp, forged in blood, steel and death. A wolf in sheep's clothing thinks nothing of killing five sheep.

Cynder couldn't conceive of losing, she was fighting for revenge, but more than this she was fighting for Spyro.

"The next time I say "Start" the fight begins." Cynder said.

* * *

 **As ever thanks for reading. I can hardly believe that people are really reading the same story as the one I'm posting. I'd love to be able to look over your shoulder and see you reading this, but that would be creepy. Forget I said anything, and don't look behind you, it certainly wasn't me back there.**

 **"A perfect reader will show both intelligence and faith."**

 **A perfect reader also reviews!**

 **-4Dragons**


	8. For Spyro: Ember vs Cynder

**Quick note:**

 **If you want some music I'd recommend "It's a brand new day" from Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, start it after the first line break. The whole short film is great, and this song is one of my favorites from it. It suits Cynder's anger in this chapter perfectly.**

 **That's enough** **from me.**

 **Fight!**

* * *

"I don't have all day." The fire dragon Feyer said. He began to walk forwards, stalking Cynder.

He reminded Cynder of a certain other fire dragon, albeit less intimidating in every way, she didn't like his attitude. Feyer had no idea what he was getting himself into, he assumed Cynder was easy prey but she would make sure he regretted that. The other four dragons formed a loose group; skilled fighters would have flanked her. None of them were ready to battle Cynder, they would regret trying.

Feyer went straight for her, Cynder tensed in readiness for an attack, but the bigger male was too busy mocking her to bother with underhanded tactics. Cynder preferred the idea of fighting four dragons to five; Feyer would be taken out first, quick and easy. Cynder wasn't above bending the rules to her advantage.

Cynder tuned the other dragon's talking out and made sure that she caught Spyro's eye. She winked and saw him nod in reply and she crossed her claws for luck, hoping that he knew what she was thinking.

Cynder refocused on him and allowed herself to be intimidated by the fire dragon. She pictured his claws cutting her scales, imagined the damage he could do to her. She didn't like the way his eyes roamed over her body at all, she shuddered under his gaze. Cynder backed away, allowed her fear to show. He saw it in her eyes and grinned with victory. He was getting too close now, or was he getting just close enough?

"I haven't said start." Cynder said hesitantly. The fire dragon didn't even blink. Spyro flipped the timer; of course he had known what she was thinking.

The round started.

Feyer didn't even notice, he was too focused on Cynder.

"Well perhaps you'd like to start by suckin-"

Feyer never saw it coming. Cynder took all the time she needed to position herself, choosing the perfect angle. The fire dragon watched Cynder coil, but didn't even imagine she was preparing to spring, he didn't see her eyes lose all traces of fear and refocus on the side of his jaw, her target. There was no way to be sure if he was still conscious to even feel the impact, Cynder surged upwards and caught Feyer's head with a devastating uppercut. The fire dragon went out like a candle flame.

"The round hasn't started yet!" The lightning dragon exclaimed in shock. The others stared at what Cynder had done to Feyer; they were too shocked by the sudden viciousness to even consider a counterattack.

"Yes it has, Spyro flipped the timer." Cynder pointed.

They turned to look, all four of them, they all turned away from Cynder to gawk at Spyro and an hourglass. Spyro smacked his face with his paw, idiots.

* * *

Cynder accelerated across the Colosseum, flying low and fast, targeting the ice dragoness like Seizo had advised. At the last second the girl turned back towards Cynder, she screamed and threw herself flat and Cynder's claws whispered inches over her head.

The black dragoness looped back for a second strike. The ice dragon rolled aside just in time as Cynder slammed into the ground where she had been lying second before. She screamed again in surprise as Cynder's tail blade snaked out seemingly of its own accord and slashed straight along her flank. Her hard scales deflected the blow, but it sent her staggering through its sheer force. The speed with which Cynder moved was terrifying.

Seeing that the Ice dragoness had rallied and gotten her guard together Cynder switched targets. She used her snake skill to dive and roll straight for Ember, not allowing the other dragons to even keep track of where she was and who she was fighting. Cynder rose to her feet in a fighting stance and sent her tail blade whistling towards Ember's throat.

Ember jerked back with a shriek. Cynder smoothly turned her strike into a lunge and rammed her with her shoulder; Ember was hurled off her feet.

Cynder wasn't able to finish her off; the electric dragon saw what was happening and launched an attack. Cynder caught his swung claw and yanked, unfurling her black and magenta wings and using a powerful downstroke to wrench the other dragon off balance. Her tail contacted the ground; she used it as leverage to bounce back and explode forwards, smashing both of her paws into the other dragon's face.

The stunning bewildering attack was practically impossible to defend against; such techniques were Cynder's specialty.

A better angle would have seen the lightning dragon, whose name Cynder had forgotten, out cold instantly, but without her wind magic Cynder was forced into using the angles that chance gave her, she couldn't create her own. No matter, she was going to win this thing one way or another.

Cynder brought her wings in close to parry the attack of the earth dragoness, by the time she had done so the ice dragoness was into the fight as well, this time she decided to circle behind Cynder, forcing her to watch two enemies. Being outnumbered really sucked, but Cynder had been outnumbered before.

Cynder grabbed the earth dragoness, was physically slimmer and weaker than her, and with strength defying her own slender frame, smoothly threw her into the path of the ice girl. The two dragons tangled and lost their footing. Cynder flipped up into the air and floated above the battlefield to catch her bearings.

Ember was up again, she looked nothing short of deranged. The electric dragon shook his head to clear it, he looked unsteady. The remaining two dragons regained their feet; this fight wasn't going to be easy.

"She's mine!" The ice dragoness said. "I want to take her."

"Bring it!" Cynder yelled.

She dove for the ground, angling to strike the ice dragoness down with brute force from above. At the last moment she threw her wings open and stopped her fall, she landed gently and immediately moved inside her enemies' defences, which had been raised to block the diving attack. Cynder managed three quick blows that sent the ice dragoness staggering and aimed to stun her, but she recovered faster than Cynder anticipated and blocked the next two strikes before countering with one of her own.

Cynder swatted the attack away as if it meant nothing, but she was concerned by the ease with which the ice dragon fought. She was definitely a threat. Cynder was beginning to focus on this girl only and nearly paid for it when Ember elected to join the one on one fight despite it being a one on one fight. Cynder ducked under Ember's tail, which nearly hit the ice dragoness. Cynder put the ice dragon between Ember and herself, backing off for safety.

"She's mine Ember!" The ice dragoness exclaimed.

"I don't care! She has to go!"

"I said she's mine!" The ice dragoness shouted. The anger penetrated Ember's emotions; the pink dragoness stared at her friend.

"Fine!"

* * *

The two dragonesses faced off, Cynder knew that there was nothing formally stopping Ember or any of the others from re-joining the fight. If she started to lose or if she gained the upper hand then the other dragons would almost certainly step in and possibly finish her off.

The pair was almost evenly matched. Cynder's aggressive and adaptive style was countered by the Ice dragon's mastery of the defensive side of normal dragon techniques. None of her counterattacks came even close to hitting Cynder, but they didn't leave the other girl open to an attack either. Wind magic rendered all defences practically useless, but Cynder wasn't allowed to use her powers. Brute forcing through the ice dragon would leave her drained and in no state to fight three more opponents.

A challenging puzzle.

Cynder fought cleverly, trying to lure the other dragon into exposing herself while she made sure to not use her full power and conserve her energy. The fight was a flurry of strikes and blocks that lasted for only a single minute, but seemed to go forever to the two dragons inside it. Then in a single instant the fight was over.

Cynder overextended, committed to much power to a strike and lost her balance. Without her wind magic to support her fighting style she suddenly realised that her best attacks left her vulnerable. The ice dragon reacted faster than Cynder would have believed was possible. She flawlessly witched from defence to attack and struck Cynder dead on. Cynder felt the air rush from her lungs and choked on nothing, the ice dragon's second attack was deflected by Cynder's scales but the third hit Cynder full in the face and her eyes blurred with tears. Blinded and stunned she looked up just in time to see the ice dragon smile in victory and come in for the knockout blow.

* * *

Cynder had been hit harder than the ice dragon had hit her, and not just once, but countless times. As much as she hated being punched she did know how to cope with it. She had known that the only way to break the other dragonesses guard was to have her abandon even using it. That required the other dragon seeing a moment to attack, and have her not just counter but fully commit to beating Cynder down.

Cynder breathed in easily, she wasn't dizzy and the tears in her eyes meant nothing to her. She caught the ice dragon's final attack, twisted her body and locked her opponent's arm out straight. The ice dragon screamed again, in panic this time, she flailed and contorted to save herself from having her arm broken. Cynder released the lock and clamped her jaws around the ice dragon's horn, and then she slammed her into the ground.

The ice dragon was winded and helpless, and she wasn't faking. There was resignation and surprise in her eyes, as well as a certain level of admiration. She knew she'd lost; Cynder's respect for the girl grew suddenly.

"Well played, black." The ice dragoness choked.

"You too." Cynder said.

"No hard feeli-"

And then Cynder knocked her out cold. There were no surrenders, after all.

* * *

There was a moment of disbelief from the three remaining dragons, they had all known that the ice dragoness was the best girl fighter in class, and better than most of the boys too, seeing Cynder defeat two of their number so quickly, almost casually, did damage to their confidence.

"Get her out of here." Cynder said calmly, a dragon flew down from the stands and did what she asked.

Cynder rubbed her nose, it was sore; the girl had certainly thrown a decent punch. She stretched out her muscles and flexed her wings; none of the others seemed willing to engage her in combat again. It was down to her to get the fight over with, so she began to prowl forwards.

The three dragons tried to surround her, finally recalling the advantage numbers were supposed to convey. Cynder changed direction and circled to ensure that Ember was always in between her and the other two. Still there was no combat, Spyro tapped the timepiece thoughtfully. Cynder got the hint, time was ticking.

Ember was caught off guard when Cynder attacked, she put her wings up to deflect a frontal attack, Cynder strolled past her and kicked her in the ribs from the side, her reward was a satisfying crunch, Ember choked and tried to turn around. Cynder leapt into the air and pirouetted smoothly to bring the blunt side of her tail blade down on Ember's skull for a dull thud.

The fire dragoness fell forward and Cynder moved on to the earth dragoness. She faked a tail attack and the girl took the bait, blocking the non-existent strike, Cynder rammed her and then clapped her wings against the dragonesses head, stunning her.

She turned just in time to see the electric dragon's claw swipe for her face, she jerked back her head and evaded the attack, he kept his momentum and she was rammed in turn and landed on her back in the dirt. The electric dragon tried to follow up his advantage but Cynder wrapped her tail around both of his forelegs and yanked, sending him sprawling. Cynder scrambled to her feet and quickly executed a striking combo on her opponent, finishing him off with a knockout.

Three down.

She sensed the attack coming, but was too late to stop it. She angled her head away from the blow and hoped that she would avoid it's full force. She didn't have a chance, she was hit dead on.

Cynder felt the impact, which meant she hadn't been knocked out on contact, which was good, but by The Ancestors that hit was _hard_. Her head spun, bright lights flashed in her eyes, she felt the dragon's claws seek purchase on her scales, her instincts told her that teeth were bared, she was moments away from being bitten on the side.

At this moment Cynder was left with three options, all of them were bad. Her shadow powers could get her out of this, but to use them would be cheating, and Cynder knew that she had to do this without them. Taking the bite and fighting on was the best option, she wouldn't be too injured to continue, her mind chose this option, but her body disagreed. Cynder's instincts told her that this was no option at all, Cynder hated, _hated_ being damaged, her instincts took over and made her choice for her.

She realized what she was about to do in the final moments, far too late to stop herself from doing it, but just in time to pull her blow ever so slightly.

Her tail blade twisted away from the earth dragoness's heart.

And punched into her belly.

* * *

Cynder's vision cleared, and she looked into the shocked eyes of the other dragon. Cynder suddenly recalled her name was Flora. The expression on her face was a mixture of confusion and surprise.

"I'm sorry." Cynder whispered, and she pulled her blood soaked blade out of the girl's body with a wet sucking noise.

She was in the perfect position to watch the change in Flora's eyes, watched confusion turn to fear, and then into pure overwhelming terror as the slim dragoness realized that she had just been gutted.

Blood stained the sand.

Flora began to scream hysterically.

"I'm so sorry." Cynder whispered again, and then she knocked the dragoness out with one swipe, cutting her screaming off in a gurgle.

"What have you done?" Ember screamed.

"I've finished what you started!" Cynder screamed back at her with shocking fury. She looked up at the stands; the dragons there were looking on in horror. "Get a healer! Run!" She shouted and Spyro, always the first to react, was gone in an instant.

The wound was long and deep, the dragoness had been butchered, split from her belly to her groin. A chill gripped Cynder's heart and did not let go. Blood and other less identifiable liquid emerged from the massive cut in terrifying quantities. Cynder panicked for a moment, she knew a little bit about healing, enough to know that this wound was extremely very bad. The recovery position sprang to her mind so she hurriedly rearranged the unconscious dragon and rested her on her side. She wrapped her wing and tail around the wound, trying to hold the blood inside the dragoness. Someone arrived to help; Cynder felt numb and allowed them to take the dragoness away. She just sat and stared at the blood on the ground.

She hadn't meant to do it.

"There is no surrender." Cynder said quietly, and looked across at Ember; the two dragons were alone in the Colosseum now. "We aren't done here yet. You brought this on yourself, all of you did."

The pink dragoness stared at her for a moment, and then hatred clouded her features. She was going to use her fire, Cynder knew it.

"Use your fire, see if I care." Cynder said.

And Ember did.

* * *

Cynder leapt straight up and took wing, a fireball exploded on the ground beneath her. Ember's eyes focused on her and she took a low stance, steadying her aim. Cynder levelled out and used the updraft of heat from the fire to raise herself higher in the air. She folded her wings and dropped under a second fireball, returning to the ground.

She was getting angry again. How dare this stupid bitch challenge her, in the vain hope of separating Cynder from her beloved Spyro?

Cynder began to stalk towards Ember; she sidestepped the third fireball, then the next. The last fireball was too close to dodge and would hit her dead on, Cynder watched it come without fear, and then she did something extraordinary.

The fireball arced towards her and Cynder smoothly brought her wing up, her wingtip met the fire in mid-air and Cynder smiled gently as she easily flicked the fireball off course, it exploded on the wall behind her. She hadn't even needed her powers, not dragon time or wind magic; she'd needed nothing but her physical skill. She was going to win now. Ember stared, and then Cynder charged at her.

Ember used a comet dash, Cynder was familiar with the move, and her sense of timing was excellent. She knew how the comet dash worked, so as the devastating fire attack bore down on her Cynder turned and struck straight into the centre of the fire, her tail hit Ember and sent her crashing down. Cynder wasn't even scorched. It had been no more threatening than the fireball.

Ember was somewhat above average in terms of magical ability, but her combat skills were terrible. Dragon scales are naturally fire resistant, and only the strongest of fire attacks are hot enough to damage another dragon, Cynder was practically immune to most of Ember's fire attacks. Every advantage belonged to Cynder.

Ember used all of her anger, hit Cynder with all of her power, everything she had she gave in her determination to grind the black dragoness into the dirt. Cynder evaded Ember's best attacks with effortless grace, and she slashed threatening blows that glanced of Ember's pink scales but that could have been much harder.

Cynder was everywhere and nowhere, Ember's body was always a step behind her mind, and Cynder's mind and body were even further in front of them, Ember was simply outclassed. The pink dragoness couldn't process what was happening, Cynder was above her and beside her and behind her. Those claws cut first once, then twice, and Ember began to panic.

She was bleeding now, and she hadn't even landed a single strike on Cynder. Ember opened her mouth and exhaled the strongest firestorm she could muster. Cynder wasn't even in its path, Ember was struck from behind and she was bleeding from a third cut. She whirled in desperation and her claws came up, they deflected harmlessly of Cynder's hard black scales and the black dragoness looked at her with scorn before hitting Ember in return so hard that it made her entire world dance and whirl. Ember used her snake skill to roll out of the fight and desperately tried to flee from the terrifying specter of violence that her romantic rival had become. She was overtaken by Cynder's swift wings before she had made it even halfway to the wall.

Cynder's tail caught the dragoness by the throat as she whipped past. Cynder flew, wrenching Ember off balance and strangling the flames the fire dragon tried to produce. Cynder slammed Ember against the wall, her tail tightened on the other dragon's throat; her claws caught Ember's pathetic attempts to loosen the crushing grip. Ember was choking, unable to breathe, Cynder watched without mercy as the dragon began to die.

Ember's heart fluttered, Cynder felt it in her tail, and she released the pink dragon onto the ground. Ember sucked in an enormous gasp of air, looked at Cynder with terror and then blacked out.

The challenge was over.

* * *

It was no victory, Cynder felt hollow inside, she didn't hate Ember, or Flora, or any of them. She'd walked through practically untouched; she wasn't even hurt while the other dragons lay battered or bleeding as she'd left them.

It was a success of course, a flawless success, Cynder had singlehandedly defeated five dragons in combat. It didn't feel like a triumph to her, it was nothing to celebrate, it felt like she'd just taken out all of her anger on a class of foolish dragons who had known no better. She'd accepted the challenge when Spyro had pleaded with her not to, and now she was surrounded by destruction.

"It wasn't your fault" Spyro said softly. She had been too lost in her thoughts to notice him come to her side.

"Yes it was my fault." She said quietly.

"It wasn't anybody's fault, especially not yours, Cynder. It's in the past now though, the fight is over." He put a comforting wing around her slender body and noticed that she was trembling.

"Flora, I cut her, will she live?" Cynder whispered, terrified of what the answer would be.

"I spoke with the healers, they say she'll live." Spyro said.

"Oh… Good." Cynder said.

Then she put her head on Spyro's shoulder and began to cry.

* * *

 **I typed this up in a single afternoon, the quickest 3,600 words I've ever typed. It just... flowed.**

 **Then I had to edit it around thirty times, of course, but I'm still happy.**

 **As you'll probably know the Ember vs. Cynder catfight has been done to death. This isn't the first time these two have crossed metaphorical swords.** **I admit, I am an unashamed Cynder fangirl, so I'm biased, but in this story Cynder and Spyro are both extremely powerful. Ember is far from incompetent but Cynder was out of her league. I like Ember, really I do.**

 **This fight was always going to end in tears.**

 **Changing topics randomly:**

 **I'd still really love to have a beta reader for this story, I'm not _quite_ as lonely as I seem, but I want someone.  
** **Can I have more reviews, please?**

 **"Disagreements are actually communication errors.  
** **We are all the same on the inside  
And if you knew what I knew... well, then you would agree."**

 **-4Dragons**


	9. A Love Worth Fighting For

**Vaguely Important: Sensitive people may argue this chapter is vaguely mildly... has perhaps sexual references in it? I don't know, something like that. However I just used the word "Sexual" which is more explicitly sexual (in my opinion) then anything in the rest of the chapter, so you're scarred for life now anyway. You might as well read it. Teehee!**

 **A special reply to a review from John:**

 **Thanks for your review! The last person to give me in depth reviews like this singlehandedly killed my old story when they gave up on it. That was my fault really as the story (in hindsight) was awful, but what I'm trying to say is I value peoples' opinions.  
(To everyone: I don't want to sound demanding at all, but I'd really love reviews with more detail)  
Replies to your points sort of in order: Exams are annoying, I'm glad you found my story instead. I don't know the cliches so I'll cross my claws and just hope I don't offend you. I had already planned for Dragon society to be radically different from that of homo-sapiens, hints on that in this chapter. Your point about Cynder is fair, I have my reasons for this... which I will not divulge here (sorry). You aren't sounding like an ass, I like this.  
Beta readers have to be members for over a month, so you might be better making an account now and just not using it until your exams are over. They also need to have published some work of their own before they can Beta read officially, so... yeah... Good luck!  
Thanks again!  
-4Dragons**

 **Important to me: I have three Spyro writers, and three spyro stories, to thank for this chapter, IronEyes, who is on Wattpad and wrote "The Fallen Shadow" HolyCross9, and his oneshot "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do" and The1upguy, for his story "This broken soul" set to the same song, which I hadn't read until after I wrote this chapter but which still deserves an honorable mention.**

 **These stories all share one thing in common. Aside from me... and Spyro... and Cynder... and- lots of things actually. I'm getting sidetracked.**

 **They all use music to great effect and I hope I can do the same.**

 **Story now:**

* * *

"I want to apologise for my behaviour earlier." The ice dragoness said to Cynder.

Cynder and Miasma were sitting on one of the rooftops of the Dragon Temple. In the room below them Spyro and Seizo were playing some strange board game Cynder didn't know. The ice dragoness who had spoken approached the pair.

Cynder had cried for an entire hour after she had defeated the five dragons who had challenged her. She'd cried first in sorrow, for the earth dragoness Flora, whom she had come close to killing in an instinctive counterattack. Her flood of tears hadn't topped there however.

She'd cried in relief over her success. She'd cried with gratitude, gratitude for Spyro, his gentle voice quieted her as he spoke kindly; his warmth gave her hope as he held her close. She was so lucky to have him.

Finally Cynder had cried in shame, shame over her prideful and violent nature, shame about everything that she'd ever done wrong. She'd cried in shame for a long time.

Cynder had felt better eventually; everyone needs to cry once in a while. Her natural strength and calm had slowly returned to her until eventually she felt brave enough to stop clinging to Spyro for comfort. He hadn't let her go, and she hadn't wanted him too, but she was able to talk and think like a normally functioning dragoness after she'd been given time to recover.

She was a bit embarrassed about it all. Cynder liked to think that she wasn't really the type of dragon to break down like that, she could look after herself. It was all over now though, Cynder was back in control.

Now Cynder felt relief, and not a small amount of satisfaction. She'd kept her Spyro, and beaten five dragons of her age in a single fight, all without any magic. She had tested her skills to the limits, and she had won. Cynder enjoyed challenges, she doubly enjoyed overcoming them.

The four dragons had found a tower room in the Dragon Temple to spend the rest of the day. Class had wisely been cancelled by Master Reon, after Cynder had rendered half of his students comatose.

Now one of those students approached Cynder and Miasma and joined them on the rooftop. The ice dragoness was uncertain of her welcome, but determined to make up for the offence she was sure she'd caused.

"What we did to you was simply cruel, I behaved in a most unladylike fashion towards you and I want to apologise on behalf of myself and my friends."

"You can sit; I accept your apology… um." Cynder didn't know the dragoness's name.

"Cyria, niece to the ice guardian Cyril and apprentice Ice Guardian. I'm sure you've heard all about our noble lineage." The Ice dragoness smiled to show she was joking. Cynder had already developed some respect for the dragoness, and added a touch of liking when she heard her friendly teasing towards her uncle's pompousness. Cyria sat with the other two dragons gratefully.

"I also behaved badly Cyria, and I'm sorry I did."

"Not towards me you didn't, you fought with fairness and amazing skill. I'd like to learn about your fighting style some time, it was nothing like Dragon Standard style or anything we've learnt in the academy."

"I made it up; it's designed to accentuate my specific element combination, it's a lot weaker without wind element, but still useable."

"That's amazing. I'm sorry if I've intruded, but I felt I had to come and apologise to you as soon as possible. I'd also like to apologise for my part in what happened years ago when you left Warfang. You don't have to forgive me for that one, but I'd like to be friends with you, or at least not enemies. I won't bother you two anymore, so I'll go."

Cyria turned to leave.

"Why did you actually challenge me, and why choose to fight me alone? I didn't understand your reasons." Cynder asked.

"I wanted to see if you were strong enough to deserve Spyro, he's a dragon worth fighting for. I was trying to prove a point, it wasn't personal."

"Everybody seems to be in love with Spyro." Cynder said.

"Yes, I'd say that's true, he's the hero of legend after all, the sixteenth law of power and all that. I want what's best for him, and now I think that it might be you. You win Cynder, although Ember may not see it that way."

"I don't get why she hates me." Cynder said sadly.

"She doesn't hate you, she just thinks she does. Maybe just take some time to think about it."

"We can be friends." Cynder said.

"Thanks. I'll see you around I expect." Cyria leapt off the rooftop and glided down towards the city.

* * *

"You don't talk much." Cynder said to Miasma.

"I didn't have anything to add to the conversation. I prefer to talk one on one." Miasma explained, and then she smiled lightly. "Normally I'm quite- How did Seizo put it? Chatty."

"Do you want to chat?" Cynder asked. "While our boyfriends can't overhear us?"

After all it had been Miasma who had led her away from the other two dragons, perhaps to talk alone.

"Um, yes." The green dragoness said nervously. "It's a bit strange, trying to think of Seizo as my boyfriend."

Cynder pictured the bespectacled earth dragon, he was certainly unusual. She thought he had potential to make a good mate, but she'd only known him for a day so couldn't really judge. Miasma tried to explain, "Girl talk" was awkward for her.

"I've liked him for ages, but I have nobody to really talk to. I just don't know if we can have _that_ kind of… relationship. I've never had a boyfriend before."

"He seems like a really nice dragon, and if you like him then I don't see anything wrong. What's troubling you?"

"Please don't get mad." The dragoness said.

"I won't get mad. What would I get mad about?" Cynder asked, sensing an imminent confession.

Miasma hesitated and looked away shyly.

"I have a crush on Spyro."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry, I can't help it, He's yours but... I love Seizo, I do, but isn't the fact that there's someone else just… wrong?"

"I don't know. I've never really liked anyone else. Does everyone in Warfang have a crush on Spyro?"

"Nearly everyone, even some of the boys do." Miasma laughed slightly. "He's just so…" she trailed off.

Heroic, handsome, powerful, kind, funny, smart, understanding and courteous, if a bit awkward at times; he was also perfect and amazing in general. Cynder made a mental list, but decided not to share it. Spyro was everything a dragoness could want.

"I don't think that it's wrong. Dragons take multiple mates all the time, both males and females can do it, we aren't like moles with their silly one mate customs and "marriages". As long as you properly love Seizo then… um..." Cynder ran out of advice, she had no idea what she was even trying to explain.

"You aren't helping." Miasma said with a gentle giggle.

"Tell me about Seizo. I heard he asked you out with a note in code." Miasma nodded in embarrassment and smiled.

"He's amazing, really amazing. He's been my friend since we first met. I couldn't decide if I loved him or Spyro for so long, then he made the most romantic note and… well, I really like them both but Seizo is my boyfriend, if that makes sense."

"I think so."

"He really is amazing. Volteer and Spyro are brilliant, maybe even genius, I guess we're both smart enough too, but Seizo is something else. He's unlike any dragon I've met; he's in a world of his own. They're playing chess now; Spyro is the only one who even comes close to challenging him in that game. We can go and watch, it'll demonstrate what I'm saying."

"I think we've both won the boyfriend lottery, I feel like Seizo really cares for you. Just go with it and see where he takes you. That's what I'm doing."

"Is it working?"

"It's been about… thirty hours… since Spyro asked me on a date, so far it's gone pretty well. Unless you count the fight, but that wasn't Spyro's fault."

"I'll keep that in mind. I take it back; you've helped me a lot Cynder."

"I'm glad." Cynder smiled and the two dragons circled off the roof to re-join their respective boyfriends.

* * *

Chess was a game played on a square board of black and white checked squares. The board was fifteen by fifteen squares. Cynder did the maths in her head. One hundred and fifty plus seventy five squares made two hundred and twenty five squares if she had calculated right.

There were little dragon, mole and wolf pieces on the board, most were white, and Spyro controlled those ones. There were a few black pieces, mostly dragons, which belonged to Seizo.

"I start with only half of my pieces; it's a handicap so that Spyro has some advantage, against anyone else I start with even less." Seizo explained to Cynder. "I'm not actually losing."

"This isn't actual chess, it's a modified version." Miasma said. She looked over the board. "You are losing Seizo, quite badly."

"This chess version is better than "actual chess" it's just less popular because it adds about sixty new rules. It's a deeper game in a strategic sense, and therefore I like it better." Seizo explained to Cynder. "And I tell you I'm not losing."

Seizo moved a piece; Spyro moved a piece to take it.

"I meant for that to happen." Seizo said.

"Sure." Spyro smiled.

Cynder watched the two dragons play, Seizo took his turns very quickly, and he was willing to let Spyro take out many of his few pieces as he tried to take just one of Spyro's pieces.

"If the king piece is taken then the game is over." Miasma said. "That's what he's aiming for."

Spyro paused to consider his moves carefully, and played defensively, trying to make sure that no matter what Seizo did it worked to his advantage in some way. He had to keep moving his king out of danger, but he took several of Seizo's pieces in quick succession. The green dragon had few pieces left now. Seizo made a move, Spyro frowned at it.

"That's a bad move. Why didn't you leave it there? If you can't take my king with your last pieces then you've left yourself completely open."

"That's because I expect to take your king with this attack, Spyro." Seizo said with complete confidence.

"You don't have a plan B?"

"Having a plan B indicates a lack of faith in plan A. I can assure you that plan A is sufficient for defeating you, my friend."

"He's joking right?" Cynder whispered to Miasma.

"No, Seizo really thinks that way, just watch."

"I can see no way for you to win now." Spyro said with a smile. He moved his king one more time and then on his next turns he trapped and crushed the rest of Seizo's best pieces. "Plan A failed." Spyro said.

"The frontal assault wasn't plan A, it was a distraction from my real plan, meant to position your king in the right spot, and it was meant to fail. I don't have a plan B, I didn't need one. Look closely Spyro."

Spyro looked at the board carefully.

"I don't get it."

Seizo moved a piece that had stayed at the back of the board. Spyro stared.

"Ah, I missed that."

"Good game." Seizo grinned, Spyro grinned back. Cynder looked at the two friends, she and Miasma had absolutely hit the boyfriend jackpot. The other girl smiled at her, and she knew they were thinking the same thing.

* * *

"Where are you taking me Spyro?" Cynder asked curiously. The two dragons walked through the streets of Warfang, Spyro was leading her somewhere.

"There's a reason I was a bit late to class earlier. I nearly messed up our date last night, and I wanted to surprise you this time."

"Are we going on another date?" Cynder asked happily, she touched tails with Spyro, and he curled his tail over hers.

"Yes." Spyro said. The two dragons stopped outside a restaurant. "And _this_ time I booked ahead." Spyro said with pride.

"I feel pampered." Cynder purred. Spyro smiled at her.

"I love you, Cynder."

"I love you too Spyro."

The food was excellent, the two dragons drank from delicate champagne glasses, it was something alcoholic, Cynder decided, as she used her long reptilian tongue to lick drops out of the bottom of the glass. Presumably some kind of wine, she didn't care, the couple were old enough to drink alcohol and they had only ordered one glass anyway. Cynder didn't recall exactly what they ate, meat with salt and spice and a side of salad most likely. Her memory was selective, and it was focused on the way that the light of the candle flickered over Spyro's purple scales as the two dragons talked.

Cynder was torn between looking at the love in Spyro's eyes and the beauty of his body, it was impossible to put out of her head how attractive Spyro was. His noble grace, lean strength, she was repeating herself now.

The black dragoness sensed that Spyro was having similar thoughts; she felt his brilliant purple eyes caress the curves of her body and carefully measure every one of her angles and edges. She posed slightly and allowed Spyro to gaze at her. Cynder didn't even pretend that she wasn't enjoying the way that he looked at her; she was enjoying it a great deal.

"What is it about me that you love?" Cynder had to ask, she was completely certain that Spyro would come up with a satisfactory answer, but she wanted to hear it anyway.

"This is one of those "Dragoness Questions" that Volteer warned me about. You didn't use one last night." Spyro said in slight dismay.

"Dragoness Questions? What did he say about them?" Cynder asked curiously.

"He said: There isn't a correct response, so hope that she doesn't ask one, but if she does then just remind yourself that you love her, because it's Cynder. Then cross your claws and bumble through. Follow your heart, and she'll probably not be offended."

"I can imagine Volteer saying that." Cynder said, while inside she was thinking about how very sweet the response was. She hadn't realised males had a term for female posed questions like this one. "So what do you love about me?"

Spyro crossed his claws and bumbled through.

"I love your eyes, I did from the moment I first met you. They're full of pride but also sadness. Your eyes express your emotions and their emerald colour is beautiful.

"I love how you talk and how you walk and fly. How you do everything that you do with grace and style."

Spyro was on a roll now, realizing that his mind was full of things to love about Cynder and very pleased to list them.

"I love your kindness and your good heart. I love your skilfulness and power and your intelligence and your wit. I love how you smile as you listen to me try to explain what I love about you."

Cynder laughed; inside she was delighted with the answer. She was as vulnerable to flattery as any other dragoness, if not slightly more so due to her pride. She discovered, happily, that she was particularly affected when it was Spyro who was praising her.

"It's your turn Cynder." Spyro said with a gentle smile.

"I don't think that the game works that way." Cynder said flirtatiously.

"It does now, I made a new rule." Spyro replied.

"You're the most handsome dragon in Warfang for starters." Cynder said immediately.

"Looks aren't allowed, to prove that you're being genuine. But I would have said something like that about you too, if it was allowed." Spyro smiled.

"Am I being shallow?" Cynder laughed. "I'll answer properly then." She took a moment to gather her thoughts.

"I love the way you made a new rule just then. I love the way you always do your best in everything you do and the way that you always do so amazingly well at everything you do your best in. I love you for your kindness, and the way you've always believed in me and treated me well even before I fell in love with you, you were kind to me. You always do everything that you can, you're considerate and I… I'm stuck; I'm not making any sense am I?" Cynder finished awkwardly.

Spyro looked at her for a moment, and then he leant across the table and kissed her. Cynder closed her eyes, feeling only ecstasy and the touch of Spyro's mouth on hers. The two sensations were rather similar, and both were wonderful.

Kissing Spyro seemed to have only gotten better since their last full kiss, the previous night. Cynder idly wondered if Spyro actually _had_ gone to Volteer for kissing practice. The thought amused her.

Spyro was trying to figure Cynder out, seeing how other dragons worked came naturally to him; Cynder wasn't quite so easy to understand. Cynder's pride was both her strength and her weakness, she'd hurt herself more than the other dragons had hurt her by tearing herself up with regret. Now, however, they were talking and she was smiling and she fascinated him.

The two dragons sat and talked and flirted, and kissed a bit more too, for almost an hour. Cynder found it so easy to be herself around Spyro, any moment when her confidence faltered in the slightest Spyro's voice echoed in her head.

"I love you, Cynder"

* * *

Being the Purple Hero had its advantages; Spyro had been spoilt for choice when he was deciding where in Warfang he wanted to live. If he'd asked he'd probably have been allowed to make his home in the guardian's meeting chamber. If he'd really wanted to choose anywhere he would more likely have chosen the library reading rooms. Being a realistic dragon Spyro had chosen neither of those places. Instead he had selected a pleasant room on the west side of the city. It was a central location, near the Dragon Temple and by extension both the library and the meeting chambers, but detached from the main thoroughfares where Warfang's citizens gathered. Spyro liked having a certain level of privacy.

There was no direct landing path into Spyro's quarters, one had to enter a side street and go through a short tunnel through the rock to visit his room. There were a few other rooms in the same area, but as Spyro told Cynder on their way these were mostly empty. Dragons as a whole preferred to be more communal creatures then Spyro as an individual was, largely due to their tendency to raise all their eggs in one hatching room under the best possible care, dragon society was quite different from that of the other races they shared their world with. Most of the dragons lived on the northeast side of Warfang.

"Would you like to come in?" He asked. Cynder nodded.

"I'd love to."

"I'm sorry if it's a bit messy." Spyro said in embarrassment.

"There's one single book on the floor, Spyro." She looked around. Spyro scooped the book up and put it on a shelf. "This is a long way from messy."

"I guess so. The bathroom door is open too."

"It's very neat." Cynder said as Spyro nudged the bathroom door closed.

Spyro's home was made up of two rooms; Cynder dubbed the first one the living room, which suited it fine. It contained a simple bed and an assortment of books, as well as a few small personal items of Spyro's. There was one moderately messy part of the room, a nest like section set in an alcove, which contained a number of sketches of dragonflies and dragons, a heap of small pillows and, on top of the pillow pile, what Cynder believed was possibly a half-eaten marshmallow.

There were a number of narrow windows high on the rooftop, large enough to let in light, Cynder saw glimpses of the stars through them now.

Cynder nosed around in the bathroom for a moment out of curiosity before going to examine the sketches in the alcove.

"Did Sparx draw these?" She asked in quiet amazement.

"Yes he did." Spyro said, joining her and quickly putting the marshmallow in the rubbish chute.

"I wouldn't have thought of Sparx as being the drawing type." Cynder examined what was clearly a recreation of Spyro in flight, rather impressed.

"Nobody ever does. Still everyone needs a hobby, and it stops him annoying me while I read." Spyro said with a smile. "Do you have a hobby?" Spyro asked. Cynder shrugged.

"I'm not sure." She said. She'd spent a great deal of her time away from Warfang developing efficient ways to kill things, but this didn't seem like the most romantic of pastimes to bring up around a dragon you were hoping to bed.

There was simply no tiptoeing around it, Cynder wanted to spend the night with Spyro, and sleep was not high on her agenda. She felt lustful when she looked at him, recalling the sensation of his kiss and touch woke primeval emotions which filled her mind. More than this, however, was the simple fact that Cynder enjoyed being around Spyro, he made her feel happy.

Cynder felt she could go mad thinking about him. What if he didn't _like_ her, or wasn't ready to commit like… it was embarrassing to even think about it while Spyro was in the room. At least there was no chance of Cynder getting pregnant. Dragon females were only fertile for four months in every forty eight, effectively is once every four years. That was one less worry, which left Cynder with only around a million to deal with.

It had been irrational of Spyro to hope that Cynder would say she enjoyed exotic dancing and proceed to give him a demonstration, his rational mind told him it was a stupid notion, but he was still slightly disappointed. He cast around for a topic that would put Cynder in a romantic mood, or perhaps an even more intimate one.

He wanted to take her as his mate, if she was willing.

Spyro had fancied some dragonesses before, passingly. He'd always find something about them that was just off putting, arrogance, selfishness, carelessness, pushiness, just something. Cynder had never been like that, she'd been his friend and partner first, and their relationship had grown entirely through their own choice. He knew her well, but she was still a mystery to him, Cynder was special.

Cynder quickly went through the skills she had that might impress Spyro. She was good at hunting, fighting, being stealthy, flying… maybe singing? Cynder could perform a three part harmony with herself using her wind magic, she liked singing. She was about to say her hobby was singing and then sing Spyro a love song, she knew the perfect song for him, when she had another idea.

"What skills do you have that you're proud of?" Spyro asked. He felt that he knew relatively little about what Cynder had done while they had been apart, more of their conversation until now had been about Warfang, and Spyro resolved to ask her about her own experiences.

"Therapeutic massage." Cynder declared and Spyro was momentarily blindsided.

"You what?" He had some difficulty processing what she'd said.

"It's something Imperia taught me to do, although I'm a little out of practice now, but I know all of the dragon pressure points both for combat and massaging. I also know most of the basic techniques."

There was a moment of pregnant silence.

"Can I try to massage you?" Cynder asked.

"Yes! That is, sure, if you're okay with it." Spyro said, trying not to sound too enthusiastic.

"Could you rest on the bed?" Cynder asked. Spyro did as instructed.

Cynder prodded him.

"That was short." Spyro joked. Cynder rolled her eyes.

"I just need to find your pressure points, until now I've only ever done this for one dragon. What feeling does this give you?" Cynder prodded him again.

"It tickles." Spyro wriggled slightly.

"This?"

"Ow."

"Okay, I think I've got it." And then Cynder leapt up and landed on Spyro's back.

"Heavy." Spyro said without thinking. Cynder jabbed him in the ribs for that.

"Never use that word to describe a dragoness. You should know that Spyro."

"Right, sorry. You're deceptively slim, it explains why you're so strong, I suppose it's a result of your fitness and-"

"Keep talking for another jab." Cynder warned Spyro, but she spoke playfully.

"Nevermind." Spyro muted himself.

Cynder used her wings to balance on Spyro, but they were barely necessary for her, her balance was excellent. She stepped forwards once, then back again before beginning to perform her massage. Spyro sighed in pleasure; Cynder felt proud seeing his reaction. Spyro was letting her literally walk all over him, she liked it.

 **Authors Note: Hi, sorry to interrupt. I won't do this often, but I have a request for you. No matter who you are, you must play this song right now. It'll complete the scene. This Youtube link may even work:**

 **watch?v=6dFbZ1jvq_U**

 **It's a love song of course, from Dawn of the Dragon. If you know it, that's great, but put it on anyway. Please. Ok. thanks.**

Spyro closed his eyes in bliss; Cynder began to hum a song for him, imitating gentle instrumental flawlessly. Spyro knew the song, it was called Guide You Home, he hummed it with her and Cynder smiled at the way his body buzzed under her paws. She began to sing, she knew all the words to the beautiful song.

" _This is the darkest night, Stars have all faded away._

" _Quiet upon this world_

Spyro could only listen in silent amazement as Cynder harmonized the instrumental and the vocals at the same time. It was a truly incredible skill that he'd never even imagined.

" _Through the clouds there is a light_

" _We will find our way_

Spyro joined her, he knew the chorus perfectly and after all it was a two dragon song. Cynder felt almost as if she was dreaming as the couple sang together.

" _I would die for you, cross the sky for you_

" _I will send out a light burning for you alone_

" _You're all I need_

" _You set me free_

" _And this fire will guide you… home._

"I don't know the lyrics" Spyro admitted after the chorus, Cynder heard him and she somehow added a voice that was almost identical to his own to her set; she amazed him. He sang quietly along with her as he recalled parts of the lines of his part.

" _There is an open door_

" _Somehow it feels so familiar_

" _We have been here before_

Spyro joined her again gladly as he recalled the words.

" _Through this old forgotten fight_

" _There must be a way_

The dragons sang louder as they reached the chorus.

" _I would die for you_

" _cross the sky for you_

" _I will send out a light burning for you alone_

" _you're all I need_

" _to set me free_

" _and this fire will guide you… home_

Spyro lost his place again. He's always been unsure on this bit, but now when he heard Cynder sing it he finally heard the lyrics perfectly.

" _Where our hearts are wide o-open_

" _Where our bond is unbro-oken_

Spyro sang along with her again, gently this time.

" _I would die for you, cross the sky for you_

" _I will send out a light burning for you alone_

" _I would die for you, cross the sky for you_

" _I will send out a light burning for you alone_

" _You're all I need_

" _to set me free_

"SPYRO!?" The incredulous yell cut through the dragons' duet. Cynder was so startled that she lost her music; the silence was sudden and surprisingly empty after the song. A Surprisingly _Un_ -Welcome Disruption hovered his way in through one of the windows and circled the room.

"What… is going?" Sparx's eye twitched as he tried to express his bewilderment.

"Sparx!" Spyro exclaimed, jumping to his feet, forgetting that Cynder was perched on his back.

Cynder yelped in surprise, but didn't fall. She felt tall from atop Spyro, and she glared down at Sparx for interrupting the moment.

"Sorry Cynder!" Spyro exclaimed again, looking up to see that she was okay. She looked down at him with annoyance.

"Sparx, what are you doing here?" Spyro said irritably.

"I sleep here, buddy, or did you forget that when you brought your creepy girlfriend back to _our home?_ " Sparx asked with incredulity.

Spyro didn't have an immediate response to that, but after a moment he decided on one.

"When you bring _your_ girlfriend here I don't make a fuss! Don't make double standards Sparx."

"Yeah well May isn't creepy, plus we're dragonflies' dude, small creatures, and you guys are huge and noisy and she probably snores or something."

Cynder hopped off Spyro's back and landed lightly next to him. "I don't snore." She informed Sparx, making it sound more like a threat than a comment.

"Yep, well, nope. I'm gone, have fun with Nightmare Girl." And then Sparx left them in peace, or more accurately he left them annoyed. Cynder sighed.

"He's unbelievable. And I forgot to tell him he draws well."

"There's always next time." Spyro said.

"Hopefully next time isn't too soon." Cynder muttered. Then she smiled at Spyro. "Would you like me to continue?"

"Actually I want to return the favour." Spyro said with a smile, his meaning was clear enough. Cynder felt excitement surge through her; she tried to keep her tone neutral.

"Do you know how to do a massage?"

"No." Spyro admitted. And then he took hold of Cynder and she let him and he gently laid her down on the bed. "I was going to improvise." He kissed her exposed throat gently and her senses went wild. Cynder lay back and looked up at Spyro with love.

"Improvise away."

* * *

 **"Everything exists only for one reason: Your reason."**

 **-4Dragons**


	10. The Next Move

Cynder didn't snore, but she had been known to talk in her sleep.

To anyone who might have been watching her it would have been clear that Cynder was having a good dream, and that it involved her beloved purple dragon, Cynder was engaged in an extremely pleasurable re-run of the evening that had led to her being here.

"Here" saw Cynder lying tangled around Spyro amidst a thoroughly messed up bed, the two dragons looked opulently comfortable, and both had peaceful smiles on their faces.

Dreams were capricious by nature, and Cynder's pleasant dream gave her little warning before it turned into the most spectacular nightmare Cynder had ever experienced. This was no small claim, Cynder had suffered terrible nightmares in the past, but nothing had ever struck at her quite in the way that this one did.

Cynder's dream Spyro was crying, Cynder kissed away his tears until he shook her away and turned from her embrace. She felt sad that she was unable to help him, and she looked around. The heat hit her suddenly; the two dragons were lying beside a vast chasm of roiling fire. Cynder recognised the jagged basalt, scoria and deadened plains of The Burned Lands, the ashen trees, sheer cliffs and the vast volcano on the horizon, surrounded with dark power.

Cynder murmured unhappily in her sleep at the change, but was unable to waken herself. A watcher would have seen Spyro twitch too in response to Cynder, his dreams were a mystery.

The traitor moved silently through the room, bearing their stolen treasure to the sleeping dragons.

Cynder's dream self was much younger and smaller than her true self, this was no young adult dragoness, but the Cynder of years ago, before the defeat of the Dark Master. Dream Spyro looked out at the infernal fire and cried out in grief. Cynder recognised this scene; this was the moment after the death of Ignitus. The fire guardian had sacrificed his life to guide them safely through the Belt of Fire.

"Spyro, stop! It's too late…" Cynder said, just as she had done all those years ago. She was crying too, for Ignitus and for Spyro. "You can't do anything for him now…"

"No! He isn't gone!" Spyro cried.

"Spyro, let it go." Cynder said.

" _No!"_ Spyro shouted, a dark aura of power surrounded him, and he rose into the air without needing to flap his wings. He gazed down at Cynder with grief driven rage.

"No! Spyro, don't!" Cynder pleaded.

" _You can't stop me."_ Spyro said. His voice was twisted and changed by the darkness that had consumed him.

"You're right, only you can do that. Please Spyro, Don't do this. I love you Spyro." Cynder cried.

This was where, in the past, Spyro had been persuaded by her words, and allowed his anger to turn to sadness. Dream Spyro had other ideas.

" _I can bring him back! His spirit isn't gone!"_ Dark Spyro insisted. He turned away from her and dove into the firestorm.

"Spyro, no!" Cynder screamed. It would kill him, she was sure of it. Then the magical chain that bound them reached its full stretch and Cynder screamed in terror and hopelessness as she was dragged into the inferno. She could feel the chain dragging her forward as strongly as if it was really around her neck once again.

Sleeping Cynder let out a small whimper as her dream self was burnt to death. The pain was dull, as if her dream couldn't quite remember exactly how it should have felt; Cynder's entire body was chilled cold as she turned into nothing but ashes. Then there was no Cynder, and she could only watch as Spyro flew, untouched and uncaring, through the flames. His tears turned to steam the moment they fell, but his body was unaffected by the fire.

A single tear ran down sleeping Cynder's cheek, the traitor looked at her with sadness.

Spyro stopped at a place of fire and hung for a long moment in the air, the darkness grew stronger around him, until he was barely recognisable to Cynder's floating gaze. Dark Spyro reached out and sank his claws into the air, or not the air but the very fabric of reality itself. Cynder couldn't describe how it happened, but she saw what Spyro did, watched him focus his intense gaze on nothingness and shred the air with his razor sharp claws. Blinding purple light spilled from the rift Spyro created, and he reached into its depths and drew out a dragon from within.

Ignitus looked at Dark Spyro with amazement, and then the two dragons embraced. Cynder could only watch, and after a moment she realised it wasn't Ignitus but young Ember, who Spyro was holding in his arms, her heart tipped tail curled around Dark Spyro's belly as she held him.

"I love you, my hero. I would die for you." Ember said, and then Dark Spyro leant over her and the two dragons kissed deeply.

Malefor's voice exploded into Cynder's dream, shaking the entire world with its force.

" _There is no escaping the destiny of the purple dragon. He cannot hide from fate!"_

* * *

Cynder woke with a start. She felt chilled to the bone. She looked around, after a moment she realised she was in Spyro's home, the faintest hint of pre-dawn light filtered in through the high windows above her and through the open door.

The open door? The door hadn't been open when the two dragons had gone to bed. Cynder watched the door close with a barely audible click, that didn't seem right at all.

Cynder realised she couldn't easily disengage herself from Spyro without waking him, for a moment she was stuck. Then she recalled that she was a shadow dragoness, which made moving rather simple actually. Cynder slipped from Spyro's bed like smoke and crossed the room in a moment, she passed smoothly through the door without opening it; the sturdy wood was no barrier to her shadow magic.

Cynder was just in time to catch a glimpse of a dragon's figure at the far end on the tunnel. The dragon's head turned to look back and saw Cynder, even Cynder's sharp eyes didn't quite have time to see the face of the intruder because the dragon launched itself into the air in an instant and was gone from her sight.

Cynder used her wind magic to hurtle down the corridor in pursuit; she was at the entrance in moments, having covered well over a hundred metres in a few seconds, she shot from the entrance and went to fly upwards when she was jerked back by something closing around her neck. She choked for a second, even as she heard a startled yell from Spyro's room. Instantly she whirled around and flew back down the corridor, the unknown dragon forgotten. Cynder phased through the door as easily as she had left and stared at the purple dragon.

Spyro had been dragged out of bed and dumped on the floor. He got to his paws, his bed sheet had wound up over his head and he tried to shake it off.

"Cynder?" He said in a muffled voice.

"I'm here." She replied, quickly untangling the sheet from his horns. Spyro looked at her in confusion.

"What just happened?"

"There was someone in the room with us. A dragon, I chased them down the corridor, but…" Cynder looked down at her neck. A glowing snake charm appeared there, as if from nowhere.

The two dragons looked at Spyro's neck, an identical object rested there, glowing gently.

"Oh great. Here we go again." Spyro said.

* * *

"Are you taking this seriously?" Spyro asked. Cynder shook her head.

"No, I'm not." She replied. Spyro sighed, she clearly had a reason.

"Okay, should we follow the dragon that did this?"

"No, there's no point. They'll be long gone. I think that what we should do now is either buy a lock for your door and tell the guardians about this… or take a bath."

"Take a _bath?_ " Spyro asked doubtfully. Cynder laughed in embarrassment.

"Yes, look at us, we're covered in each other's… ah… scents. Come on, let's bathe." Cynder nudged Spyro towards the bathroom. Spyro shrugged, the hot water would ease his muscles too, he was somewhat sore.

"That's a fair point. Okay then, Cynder." Spyro smiled, Cynder smiled back at him. The concerns she'd had the previous night, her little fears about how Spyro might treat her differently, or if what they had done together would damage or even ruin their friendship, it all disappeared. Spyro's smile gave Cynder the certainty that everything was going to be all right.

"Do you mind if I splash around?"

"Not at all." Spyro's smile turned into a grin.

* * *

"And why did it take you several hours to report this?" Terrador asked wearily.

Spyro and Cynder glanced at each other.

"General reasons…" Spyro eventually said.

Fortunately Imperia wasn't in the guardian's meeting chamber to make a comment on that. Terrador looked at them for a moment, before sighing.

"I thank you for considerately not waking me at an undue hour, to deal with something I couldn't have immediately helped with anyway." Terrador said.

"Thanks for the reason- I mean, thanks for your understanding." Spyro said with a grin of embarrassment. Cynder sighed at his behaviour.

Flare was the first of the other guardians to join them in the room; Cynder again found her gaze was drawn to the Fire Guardians' strange graceful movement. The dragoness looked at them briefly, then nodded and sat to wait for the other guardians.

Imperia was the next to arrive, Terrador looked at her silently, his gaze told her that she wasn't allowed to be there, she blew him a kiss. Flare smiled knowingly at the wind dragon so Imperia blew her a kiss too, Cynder thought she was acting rather flirtatious towards Flare. Imperia focused her attentions on Spyro and Cynder and opened her mouth to bombard them with questions before Terrador coughed meaningfully. Imperia took the hint and didn't speak as Cyril and Volteer arrived.

Cynder noticed a certain level of tension among the Guardians, Cyril in particular looked uneasy, and didn't even argue with Volteer. Spyro too noticed the atmosphere of the room.

"Is something wrong? Does it have to do with the break in at the Vaults?"

"Yes." Terrador said simply.

"And?" Spyro added.

"We believe that Malefor has returned." Volteer said.

There was a moment of shock from Spyro and Cynder; surely it wasn't possible for the Dark Master to return?

"Why didn't you mention this to me?" Imperia asked in surprise and annoyance.

"Because you're not a guardian dragon." Cyril said. Imperia glared at him.

"Explain what's happened." Flare said, before an argument could begin. She had heard most of the details from Volteer, but knew the other dragons would want a summary. Volteer explained.

"Two items were stolen from the Vaults. The Dark Master's snake charms have disappeared, but-"

"They've turned up actually." Terrador said. Spyro and Cynder both stepped forwards and the chain appeared between them.

"When did this happen?" Volteer asked in surprise.

"We suspect it was this morning, sometime before dawn." Spyro said.

"I saw a dragon leaving our room at that time." Cynder added.

"A male dragon, or are you not sure?" Imperia asked. Then she smiled playfully and mouthed two words to Cynder, Cynder heard the words on the wind: "Our bedroom" and squirmed slightly in embarrassment.

"I'm not sure." She said. "But they were adult sized, or near enough."

"We already believed there was a traitor within Warfang, this isn't a revelation, but it does change what we know about their motives. However we still know very little." Flare said thoughtfully.

"It also effects out next move." Terrador said.

"Next move?" Spyro asked.

"We planned to send you to Darkmire's tomb, Spyro. Now this is more difficult." Terrador explained.

"That's where the remains of Malefor were buried isn't it? Darkmire's tomb."

"Yes. You would have the best chance of finding out what has happened there, you understand the powers that Malefor wields better than any of us. We believe that the energy of his soul was contained within the crystal that was also stolen from the Vaults. We can only conclude that Malefor is once again free. We need to track him down and find out what he's planning. You were going to leave today."

"Going to? I want to go, why can't we?"

"Because now Cynder would need to go with you." Imperia realised. "What sort of secret plot is this? It seems self-contradictory."

"Malefor's traitor may have not wanted Spyro to go after him. So they arranged to keep Spyro in Warfang using Cynder and the chain." Terrador said. "That would explain the facts."

"Well that's easy. Spyro and I can go together." Cynder said.

"Yes."

"No."

"No!"

"Yes."

"Yes."

* * *

"We could be on our way by now." Cynder said to Spyro.

"I know, but this is still fun, isn't it?" Spyro replied. He was referring specifically to the cuddle the two dragons were enjoying while they waited for the Guardians' decision. Cynder thought that the argument was also somewhat interesting, not as interesting as the cuddle of course, but entertaining. The young couple waited patiently.

It annoyed Cynder that Malefor's servant might have attached her to Spyro in order to hold him back. She refused to be a burden to Spyro; she could and would help him, no matter what the others thought.

Imperia, Volteer and Terrador believed that the traitor had chained Spyro and Cynder to prevent them from leaving Warfang, and therefore reasoned that the two dragons should leave together, spoiling the plan. They somehow, despite being in agreement, still managed to argue almost as much with each other as they argued with the others.

Flare suggested that this was actually a double bluff, designed to make Cynder and Spyro more likely to go to Darkmire's tomb together, and that Malefor could actually be hoping for that. She wasn't believed, because her logic was confounding and she had no solid proof. Eventually she sighed and gave up and just stared into the distance while the others argued. She was trying to put a theory together, they were distracting her.

Cyril simply didn't want Cynder to leave Warfang as she had just been placed in the Dragon Academy the previous day and immediately caused a great deal of trouble. Cyril felt that Cynder was unstable, had no respect for authority and was possibly untrustworthy. He didn't mention that he suspected her of being the traitor herself, but Volteer knew he was thinking it.

Eventually it was agreed that Spyro and Cynder would travel together to Darkmire's tomb together, unless the chain could be removed within the hour.

* * *

The chain proved stubborn; clearly it had been modified since the last time by someone who knew a great deal about runes and magic. The old way they had removed it didn't work, neither did twisting it, to Cynder's amusement. Cynder didn't mind the chain now, it would let her go with Spyro, she wanted it to stay at least for a while, and Spyro confided in her that he also hoped it wouldn't be broken too soon.

Neither the moles nor the dragon craft masters could remove it. Nothing worked. The actual length of the chain had fortunately been extended, it allowed the two dragons to move around in an almost two hundred metre radius from each other, and curiously there were also a number of new symbols added to the chain that appeared to have no function at all.

They were unable to remove it, so Spyro and Cynder were given another hour to prepare to leave. With Cynder reluctantly in tow Spyro spent ten minutes searching for Sparx to tell him that they were going, but they couldn't find him, to Cynder's relief. Spyro didn't search quite as hard as he could have.

Before they left Cynder wanted them to say goodbye to Seizo and Miasma, she also wanted to try to apologise to Ember, Flora, Feyer and the electric dragon whose name she still couldn't remember.

They encountered Cyria on their way to the infirmary, where Cynder guessed the others might be. Cyria told her that Flora was there, but that the others were actually in the Dragon Temple classrooms and guided the couple there. She did her best to give Cynder advice on the way.

"Ember is terrified of you now, she may try to hide it, but she's scared. Try to be nice to her for my sake, please. As for the others: Nero is the electric dragon-"

"I'd forgotten his name." Cynder admitted.

"Did you remember my name?" Cyria asked with a perfectly straight face.

"Your name is Cyria, niece of Cyril and apprentice Ice guardian. The ladylike one."

"Okay you remembered. So continuing: don't mind Nero, he's nice enough once you get to know him, just don't be smug and he'll come around. I wouldn't bother with Feyer, he'll get over it on his own eventually, and he's a bit of a jerk anyway. You can deal with Flora later, I don't think you'll have much chance with her, she's upset, really upset, and I expect she's scared of you too, so maybe just give her some time."

"Thanks." Cynder almost felt like she was going for round two against the same opponents, but the rules of the match were rather different this time.

Cynder and Spyro walked into the classroom and the dragons fell silent immediately, it was only the four of them, three dragons she'd fought plus Flame, who were in the room. Not a huge crowd, Spyro gave her confidence, his tail touched hers. "I love you, Cynder" echoed in her mind.

"I want to apologise to all of you." Cynder said.

None of them spoke immediately; Cynder looked around the room, waiting for a response.

"I accept your apology Cynder." Cyria said, she walked around the edge of the room to join the other dragons.

"Why?" Ember asked Cyria, her eyes were fixed on Spyro.

"Because we were the ones who did the wrong thing Ember, and we both know it." Cyria said. Ember's eyes flicked to Cynder's, then she looked away quickly, Cynder realised that Ember really was afraid of her, she felt bad for that.

"I did things I shouldn't have done and I'm sorry that I hurt you. I just wanted to defend Spyro" Cynder said to Ember. The pink dragoness looked at her in surprise.

"Defend Spyro." Ember repeated Cynder's words as if she was in a trance. Cynder felt the named dragon shift uncomfortably beside her. "I can't… didn't really think you cared about him like I do, you were always so… quiet about him." Ember trailed off.

"I love Spyro." Cynder said automatically. Ember looked at her for a long moment, and then she rose and rushed out of the room without looking back, Cynder heard her start to cry, wind dragons had sensitive hearing.

The remaining dragons looked at her. Cynder caught Feyer's gaze, and watched the dragon sneer at her.

"You cheated, bitch, what you did was against the rules. In a fair fight I woul-"

"It was all fair, and that you were defeated so easily was your own fault." Spyro interrupted. "Also Feyer, if you don't think you could defeat me, then don't imagine you could beat Cynder. She's at least as skilled as I am. Would you fight me, Feyer?" He looked like he wished the fire dragon would agree to fight him, Spyro would make anyone regret calling Cynder a bitch.

The big orange dragon glared, but didn't continue. Feyer had the advantage of height, weight and arguably strength, Spyro was tall but fairly lightweight in dragon terms, but none of the dragons in the room gave Feyer even the slightest chance against the Purple Legend. Nero was stirred from silence by Spyro's defence of Cynder.

"I'll admit, you're powerful." The electric dragon said. "I didn't really care one way or the other who won, so we're fine."

Cynder nodded in acceptance, this was as good as she had hoped for.

She looked at Spyro, who gave her a nod of respect. The two dragons left the others in the classroom. The infirmary was next, Cynder had to try.

Flora lay on a ward bed, her slender waist wrapped in white bandages and red crystals. She looked awful, sick and weak. She glanced up when Cynder, Spyro and Cyria entered the room, her eyes narrowed and she deliberately looked away.

Flora was not a creature of emotion in the same way that Ember was, but she felt a great deal of fear and anger towards Cynder, there would be no forgiveness from her. Cynder recognised that Cyria had been right, reasoning was pointless, so she just said a few simple words.

"I'm sorry Flora." Then she turned and left again, Spyro followed, placing his wing over her body to comfort her. Cyria stayed until Flora looked back and gave the wounded earth dragoness a sad, gentle smile, and then she too left.

"So you two are going on a trip?" Cyria called after them. Spyro and Cynder looked back until she'd caught up with them.

"We're going to track down the most evil dragon in the world and defeat him… again." Cynder said.

"The Dark Master? But he's dead is he not?"

"Apparently not." Cynder said.

"Oh. I was wondering if you were having a honeymoon. That's unfortunate then."

"We may have time for both." Spyro said, sharing a smile with Cynder.

"I hope you do. Good luck either way." Cyria said. She gave Cynder a wink. The two dragons thanked her.

* * *

Saying goodbye to Seizo and Miasma took longer, but was also much more enjoyable. Cynder wondered how Miasma was dealing with dating Seizo, the two dragons were shyly touching tails, and Cynder felt that was a good start. Seizo didn't seem to be pressuring Miasma; not that Cynder had expected him to, he seemed to really care for her.

Miasma looked content. The dragons talked about Spyro and Cynder's date, Seizo wanted to know how it had gone. Spyro asked him if he was looking for tips, and suggested he try Volteer. They laughed about that, and then started discussing Volteer's dating history. Cynder found this was an entirely new and interesting conversation; it turned out that Volteer had dated both Imperia and Flare recently, much as Cynder had guessed, as well as another lightning dragoness almost a year ago. Between the four of them they found that they actually knew most of what Volteer had done, where he had taken the dragonesses, if they had or hadn't kissed and so on.

Volteer had become guardian not long before Spyro and Cynder were born; he was now approaching his quarter century in guardianship. Twenty five years as the electricity guardian, not many compared to Terrador's hundred and ten years or Cyril's eighty. Twenty five was still a lot more than Flare's two and a half, for comparison's sake.

Cynder mentioned Volteer's attractiveness just to see what happened; Miasma agreed that he was indeed rather good looking, and demanded that nobody mention that she had said so. Seizo acknowledged that Volteer was good looking with amusement. Spyro looked away awkwardly, and then agreed.

Cynder's wind magic allowed her to sense a small figure just outside the room.

"Found you. Imperia's been looking for you two."

Cynder looked around; Spark the young fire dragon sat in the doorway.

"Apparently it's time you were going." Spark added.

* * *

Cynder and Spyro said farewells to Seizo and Miasma then Spark led them to the square before the city gates. Cynder would have preferred to fly over the wall and away but someone, probably Cyril, had felt that this wouldn't be enough of a ceremonious exit. Nadder joined them as they travelled.

"So you met my big sister?" The little poison dragon asked.

"Miasma, yes she's nice. She said your name was Myria." Cynder said. The green dragon huffed.

"It is, but I gave myself a better name."

"Why?" Cynder asked.

"Because our parents gave it to me, and now they're gone. I can't even remember them, just our names. We're orphans, see?"

"How can an orphan have a big sister?" Cynder asked, then realised that it was a tactless question. Nadder answered it anyway, not seeming to care much about tact.

"She's not _that_ much older than me, she was about six or maybe three or something, too young to properly remember them too. She raised me on her own until we were taken to Warfang. She's cool, I'm glad you met her." Nadder said as the dragon group arrived at the city gates and met Imperia. The young dragons didn't hang around but went looking for the young wind dragon that completed their trio; Cynder recalled his name was Stratos.

Cynder hadn't really thought about it until now, but when she saw that Spyro was the same height as Imperia she realised that she was nearly that tall too. She shook her head in amazement, thinking about how much they had grown. Imperia came over to them with her usual smile.

"How was your night?" Was the first thing she asked.

"Perfect?" Spyro said, looking to Cynder for confirmation.

"Perfect." Cynder confirmed. The two dragons stepped closer together and Spyro nuzzled Cynder.

"Brilliant! I… yep… wow, I'm so happy for you both!" Imperia babbled.

"Are you here to say goodbye and good luck?" Spyro asked.

"Yes, well no. I wanted to hear details but we are short of time. I think I'll instead say "Goodbye and have fun" because it's more positive."

"We need more positivity." Cynder said. Imperia sighed, taking a more serious tone.

"I have faith in you both, but we know nothing about Malefor and what he might be up to, so try to be careful." She focused on Cynder and said three simple words, words Cynder had heard unusually often lately.

"I love you."

Cynder couldn't find her words; they had abandoned her, which also seemed to be happening rather often lately. She just nodded her head and tried to force herself to not be tearful.

Imperia turned to Spyro. "Look after her for me, will you?"

"I will, I promise." Spyro said.

Imperia looked into Spyros eyes for a long moment, then suddenly leant forwards and took Spyro with a full on kiss. Cynder stared at the scene; Spyro's eyes closed at the kiss, and then snapped open in astonishment and he staggered back

"Waah! Tongue!" He yelled. "What was that for?"

"Tongue?" Cynder repeated incredulously, glaring at Imperia.

The wind dragoness laughed at their reaction and licked her lips. Spyro looked like he was wishing he was invisible.

"I couldn't help myself. Spyro don't look at me like that! I was only teasing." She caught sight of Cynder's glare. "Oh come on Cynder! I was just lightening the mood."

Cynder continued to glare.

"You two are so fun to mess with. You can't make me feel bad." Imperia laughed. After a moment Cynder couldn't glare anymore.

"I can't believe you did that." Cynder said.

"Neither can Spyro." Imperia laughed. "It's just a little something to remember me by. Take care you two." Imperia turned tail and began to walk away. After a few seconds Cynder ran after her.

Imperia looked back in time for Cynder to grab her in a tight hug. The two wind dragons held each other, Imperia stroked Cynder's head.

"I love you too Imperia." Cynder said.

"What's not to love?" Imperia said. "Also you're crushing me. You have a tight grip, clingy Cynder."

"Sorry." Cynder released her. Imperia nuzzled Cynder for a moment, and then the two dragons parted.

"She has no idea." Spyro said quietly. Cynder heard him, wind dragons had excellent hearing. She jabbed him in the side playfully, then allowed him to put his wing over her.

She wasn't really clingy, was she? Compared to Miasma she certainly was clingy, but not compared to Ember, perhaps she should get a dating advice book from Seizo to read a proper comparison. Actually she decided not to bother, she wasn't about to pretend to be a dragoness she wasn't in order to make Spyro care for her more. He loved her for who she was, supposed clinginess included.

* * *

Imperia had been gone for only a few seconds when Volteer arrived.

"Ah! You're early, not late, an excellent start to a stupendous adventure!" The electric dragon said cheerfully. "I have examined several comprehensive maps with which I have determined a suitable course you might choose to take. I myself have tried my hand at cartography in the past; in fact mapmaking is a wonderful skill to have. I can't help but-"

"And which path do you recommend?" A new voice interrupted. Cynder hadn't noticed that Flare was walking up behind them. Her strange walk messed with Cynder's wind senses, the way she moved her wings made her difficult to detect. Also Spyro had been in the way, Cynder reasoned, so it wasn't her fault she hadn't fully noticed the fire dragoness.

"Ah, em, eh…" Volteer replied wisely.

"The north road past Dante's Freezer." Flare prompted.

"Yes, that path, exactly the one I was going to suggest! It's a three day journey by any road but traveling this way should mean that you only spend a single night above the snow line. I've been told the scenery is spectacular, the volcano, the ice valley, the rift lake, really it's quite amaz-"

Flare interrupted with directions and advice, making sure the conversation stayed relevant.

"Basically you fly north across the plains of Warfang towards the volcano. You'll know that bit pretty well. From there its east for almost a full day, try to go east exactly for a shorter flight and better places to spend the night, but you'll hit the rift lake even if you don't fly straight, it's huge, like an inland sea, you quite literally can't miss it."

"We probably could." Spyro joked. Flare shook her head.

"You can't, trust me it's a very big lake. Fly east along the lake until you reach Dante's Freezer, it isn't too hard to find really, follow the icebergs. From there its one hundred and sixty six degrees true north bearings, pretty much southeast, use the dragon constellation's tail tip star to be exact. Get this bit right or you'll reach the mountain range and get stuck. I've been to Darkmire's tomb before, and if you miss the ice valley between the mountainsides then it becomes a real nightmare to get there. You'll need to stop for the night in the mountains, there are no deep caves so I'm afraid all I can say is "suffer" but you should reach Darkmire's tomb by noon on the third day. It's built on a cliff on the side of the mountain range."

"That fortress is a marvel of engineering, precariously perched above icy oblivion. I would simply love to go with you and see it for myself." Volteer said.

"I would guide you there personally, but I have to go away to Shattershelf as part of the treaty with the fire dragons." Flare finished.

"Terrador told us we can't come. Is Sparx not going with you? He can sketch, I want to see Darkmire's tomb myself, but a drawing would do until I can go." Volteer said.

"I couldn't find him." Spyro said. "He doesn't know we're going."

"Fortunately" Cynder muttered, making sure nobody heard her.

"I'll look for him." Volteer said immediately. He turned and left, Cynder crossed her claws that Sparx wouldn't be found. Spyro looked at her and shrugged helplessly.

"All his lightning has fried his brain. He is socially inept." Flare said absently, she was still thinking about other things, there was something big happening, and she wanted to work out what it was. "Two's company, but three's a crowd."

Cynder hadn't heard that saying before, but it was simple enough to work out what Flare meant. She filed the phrase away in her memory for later use.

Flare glanced around, seeing that they were now alone she spoke urgently to Spyro and Cynder.

"The others disagree, but I think that Malefor is smarter then we give him credit for. He was brilliant once, before he went mad. I feel that Malefor actually _meant_ for you two to go to Darkmire's tomb together, and had the traitor in Warfang chain you when it looked like Cynder might have to stay at the Dragon Academy."

Spyro frowned thoughtfully. What Flare said made some sense, but why would Malefor want Spyro and Cynder to go after him together, not Spyro alone? He didn't have anything to gain.

Flare didn't add the final… inevitable… conclusion of her logic. Everything that had happened would be explained, if Cynder was still in league with Malefor.

Cynder made the perfect traitor.

Cynder had returned to Warfang in time to open the Vaults for Malefor, after Imperia had fallen asleep. They only had the black dragonesses' word for it that she and Spyro had been visited by a strange dragon last night, she could easily have lied about that.

Cynder seduced and bedded Spyro, so they were together and suspicion was deflected from her, it was a common tactic for females in espionage. Then Cynder put the charms on Spyro and herself to ensure she was sent with the purple dragon.

Spyro would be alone among enemies; he wouldn't suspect a thing, and even worse he wouldn't be able to hurt Cynder if she betrayed him, now that she had made Spyro fall in love with her.

The only piece of evidence that made Flare doubt her solution was simply Cynder's eyes. The black dragoness looked at Spyro with such love and warmth that should have been impossible to fake. Flare could see how much the two dragons cared for each other; she really hoped she was wrong about Cynder.

Flare hoped she was wrong, but she knew that she usually wasn't.

The fire guardian quickly shook herself out of those thoughts, the young dragon couple was looking at her strangely.

"There isn't anything we can do about it, but if Malefor at any point says the phrase: "This is exactly as I planned!" or words to that effect, then come back to Warfang immediately, and get help. Don't play into his hands; stay on your guards, both of you."

"We will." Cynder said. Flare looked at her for a moment; Cynder sensed she was being judged. Eventually Flare gave her a smile; Cynder returned the smile, unsure.

That was goodbyes for and from two of the guardians, plus Imperia, which left just…

"I see you two haven't packed armour or anything. Have you at least eaten?" Terrador approached from across the square, Cyril walked beside him.

"Eaten? No." Spyro admitted.

"So I assume you plan to hunt your own food on the way?" Terrador asked wearily.

"It just slipped my mind." Spyro admitted. Now he felt hungry, he hadn't until Terrador had mentioned it. How typical.

"We'll hunt. I've been to the rift lake before." Cynder said. "I've been to lots of places; we can get food, no problem."

"I've been to Dante's Freezer." Spyro said. "It's where I saved Volteer from."

"I guess that means I've been there too, but I don't really remember it." Cynder said quietly, only Spyro heard her. He squeezed her slightly and smiled to cheer her up, it worked of course.

"So you at least know where you're going and how to get there?"

"Yep." Spyro said proudly.

"And what you're doing once you arrive?"

"Umm… Sort of."

"May the Ancestors help us all." Cyril said to the sky.

* * *

 **At last the traitor makes their next move! It only took nine chapters.**

 **I'd say interesting things here, but I have to pace my authors notes or I'll run out of nice stuff to say. Sorry about that.**

 **I look back at the earlier chapters of this story on occasion. It's a motto of mine that "The past is in the past" but I treat it a bit differently to the norm. I look back at my past with amusement, if I was given a chance to meet a past me and give them advice I'd probably just give them a very condescending pat on the head and say "You'll be fine, just have fun." Because I am immature like that. The best bit is that the past me would most likely accept this with similar amusement, and maybe make a sarcastic quip. I know that future me will look back at this me in exactly the same way, and I don't mind at all.**

 **Hi there future 4Dragons!**

 **Nobody around me can understand why I'm irrational and I don't know either, but for today this is my philosophy, and it makes me happy.**

 **"Being cheated out of money is in fact good value, in a stroke one purchases prudence."**

 **-4Dragons**


	11. Cynder Explains Things

**I have a piece of music for you, Such Great Heights, by The Postal Service, (Ben Folds performs an excellent cover version that I love too, for the record) it really suits Spyro and Cynder. It's a really nice song, play it randomly, or put it on after the two dragons start flying for the second time, your choice.**

* * *

Spyro and Cynder flew together, the ground passed by far below them; the volcano that was their first landmark loomed ahead. The winds and weather were perfect for flying, the sun was pleasantly warm and the two dragons had a brisk tailwind to speed their way. Every few seconds Spyro flapped his wings lazily to maintain his course; Cynder didn't even need to do that.

Warfang had disappeared into a smudge on the horizon. Cynder was glad to be gone; the great dragon city had never looked quite as nice as it did when it was fading into the distance. Now there were no friends or enemies, there were no Guardian dragons, no teachers, no crowds of strangers. It was just her and Spyro flying alone, together.

"If this tailwind lasts then we should reach the mountain in less than an hour." Spyro called to her. Cynder shifted her wings slightly to bring her course nearer to Spyro's so they could talk.

"Of course it will last. I'm creating it." Cynder said. Spyro stared at her in amazement.

"I should have known you could do that." Spyro said. Cynder twirled.

The black and purple dragons flew silently for a few minutes. Spyro stole glances at Cynder, soon he he noticed her noticing he was looking. After that he stared unashamedly.

"What are you thinking?" Cynder asked.

"The way you fly is beautiful. I was wondering what it might be like to be a wind dragon." Spyro said. "Can you tell me about what it's like?"

"I'll do my best."

Cynder twirled again as she thought; trying to find a way to describe how flying felt to her was difficult, she didn't even know where to start. Flying made her feel like her body weighed nothing at all, she could stop or accelerate to unbelievable speeds at will, twist and turn in easy defiance of the three laws of motion and complete disregard of the force of gravity, she felt like she could do anything, how could you explain the way that felt to anyone?

Wind was freedom, it was whatever she wanted it to be, taking her wherever she wanted, however she wanted. Intimately caressing her wings and body, surrounding her completely, flowing into and through her until she couldn't tell where she ended and the sky began. It was a deeply personal feeling, and simply impossible to describe with words.

She came out of her twirl upside down, but she flew that way as easily as she flew upright. Spyro stared.

"How can you do that?"

Cynder flipped back to normal, it was disconcerting talking to an upside down Spyro.

"Wind doesn't need up or down, it just goes where it wills and so do I. I don't quite know how to describe this."

Cynder found herself wishing Spyro had a wind element; he deserved to be able to experience what she could. She wanted to share it with him.

"Relax, stop flapping your wings." She told him. Spyro obeyed, he began to lose his course, but he waited for Cynder. Cynder glided below him, matching his course perfectly. The wind gently raised the two of them in harmony. Spyro didn't need to flap his wings any more, the wind kept him aloft as it did Cynder, but it just wasn't the same.

Cynder flew closer, bringing her hips into contact with Spyro's, then the rest of her body, she even aligned her wings and tail with Spyro's.

Spyro traced Cynder's scales with his paw; the line of her upper back was a gentle curve that it felt natural for Spyro to rest his paw on. He felt the muscles move easily below her smooth skin. Her entire body resonated magic. Cynder in flight felt different to Cynder on the ground; her scales were somehow connected to the wind, it rushed over and around her body, surrounding her. When Spyro put his paw right against Cynder's scales the effect stopped, but the wind clung to her body in in the tiniest gaps between the two dragons.

Whatever it was that Cynder was doing with her wind magic, or perhaps it was simply the feeling of her body in contact with his, it made Spyro's skin tingle.

The wind expanded and closed in around Spyro too, it was an unnerving experience; it surrounded him and left no part of him untouched. He focused on Cynder; she was doing this, so it couldn't be bad.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Improvising." Cynder said.

"You don't know then?"

"No."

They were going to the volcano; it filled the sky before them. Cynder estimated the near side of the slope to be about twenty kilometres away, still distant. Cynder pictured an arc that would take them right there, in effect she visualised a wind tunnel like the ones that could be found in the old city below Warfang, but this one would be faster, much faster. She reached out with her magic, asserting her control over the air between her the mountain, she had no fine control over the wind at that distance, but she could influence it, even from far away.

Cynder imagined herself flying through that path she had imagined, how the wind would carry her there, how the world would blur as she flew past it. The volcano seemed so close, like she could reach it in a single minute, ten minutes tops. All she had to do was fly fast enough.

The wind surged around and through the two linked dragons, Cynder set her wings and Spyro's in a back swept position, and then they accelerated.

Spyro left his stomach behind him, he wanted to scream, partly in terror and partly in exhilaration, but the sheer speed and shock of the acceleration took the sound away.

Everything blurred around them, the only thing Spyro could see was Cynder, and he was holding onto her for dear life in a most heroic manner. Comet dash caused the fastest acceleration Spyro had ever experienced, and that was dizzying enough, but this was much more intense. He felt sick.

Spyro knew nothing about transonic flight physics; he had never even contemplated the idea of sound having a "speed" He had certainly never imagined that such a speed could itself be out-flown. Thirty five seconds into their flight he reimagined what he knew about the world as Cynder reached Mach 1, the speed of sound.

There were three primary problems an object must face in order to reach that sort of speed.  
Firstly: thrust, just flapping harder isn't going to help a dragon reach a speed of three hundred meters per second. Naturally occurring wind could travel at about half the speed that Cynder wanted, but with her magic Cynder created a wind around her and Spyro that was much, much faster.  
Secondly: control, it was to control their flight that Cynder had created her wind tunnel before she'd even started to accelerate, it would keep them on course.  
The last, and most important, thing was not dying: Put simply, they were flying through air, air had to flow around them, the less aerodynamic an object was the more air had to flow around it, that flow caused friction and friction in turn caused agonising burning pain.  
The air pressure around and in front of them would drop severely; once they breathed out it would be impossible to breathe in again. Cynder countered this with the same strategy as she would use to protect herself from rain, hail, fire or other annoying threats; she created a shield of air around herself and Spyro. The shield was meant to take the force of their passage and divert the air around them harmlessly, allowing them to fly unhindered.

Cynder felt her wings beginning to strain; the shield of air she would usually create was the wrong shape to protect both her and Spyro, her wings weren't protected from the force. She was going too fast and she was still accelerating, hanging around the sound barrier was an extremely bad thing to do.

Cynder could protect Spyro and herself from the devastating effects of the air rushing by them at that speed, but if she didn't accelerate enough then some of the air they flew through would be passing over them at supersonic speed while other parts of the air wouldn't be. It was nearly impossible for her to shield the two of them from two different types of force at once, she had to go faster, slow down, or get burned. She chose faster, of course.

The supersonic expansion fan was a side effect of their speed. A cone of water vapour rapidly formed around the two dragons, obscuring Cynder's vision; she couldn't see where they were going. The vapour trail itself was one thing Cynder understood well; it was formed by the changes in air pressure and temperature caused by their speed. She had learnt about the supersonic expansion fan so she knew how to counter its effect, but now she was stretched to her limits just protecting herself and Spyro so she couldn't clear it away.

She had to slow them down; her wings were really hurting and she wasn't able to protect them.

Cynder's magic was delicately balanced. She had to keep the two dragons on course, protect them from the effects of their speed, and now she had to try to stop them. She could do any two of the above with relative ease, but not three. All she had to do was stop accelerating, simple physics, right?

Cynder's magic usually ignored physics, but both Imperia and Malefor before her had made sure she knew how it all worked. Without thrust the velocity of the two dragons' flight would be stopped by the equal and opposite reaction of… blah? She hadn't paid quite as much attention as she should have. Still, she knew enough.

She strengthened the effects of her shielding, glad that it eased the strain on her wings. The dragons began to decelerate. The mountain, Cynder guessed, was still about five kilometres away so they were safe enough, but she had forgotten one extremely important thing.

As the two dragons dipped back below the speed of sound Cynder sighed with relief as the supersonic expansion fan began to fade from existence. She was caught completely off guard by the sonic boom.

The sound the two dragons had been safely ahead of until that moment caught up to them with a deafening crack, Cynder yelped in surprise and pain, the sound was shockingly painful and she lost control of her winds.

Not good.

* * *

Immediately the world devolved into a whirling, screaming storm of chaos. Cynder was torn from Spyro's hold and the two dragons were sent spinning uncontrollably.

Sky flashed. Grey earth replaced it. Sky showed up again and Cynder was dizzy trying to keep up with what was happening. She tucked her wings to protect them and she couldn't even tell if she was falling up or down, her internal senses were totally scrambled. She had to stop herself and there was only one way to do that, as if her poor wings weren't already painful enough.

Cynder unfurled her wings and snapped them open, they caught the air and she clenched her teeth to stop herself from screaming at the pain. She was slowed enough to get her bearings and she brought the wind in to stop her unwanted spinning.

Cynder regained her dignity with silent thanks. Glad that only one special dragon had been around to see what had happened. Spyro was… was… where was Spyro?

Cynder looked around; the volcano was close, closer then she had thought, perhaps a kilometre away. There was no lava below Cynder's position that he could have crashed into but there was a great deal of ashen forest and jagged rock. Spyro was nowhere to be seen, he hadn't hit the ground. Cynder looked around, but saw no purple dragon. Finally she looked up.

There he was. Cynder sighed with relief. Spyro was circling high above her, unharmed but looking a bit sick.

"Are you alright?" Cynder called, the wind lifted her gently towards Spyro, she winced at the sensation, her wings were sore. This hadn't exactly been a huge success.

"It's good we didn't eat before we left, or I'd have thrown up. Otherwise I'm okay." Spyro replied. "I don't know how you can cope with doing that."

"I messed up. I'm sorry. It should have been easy." Cynder said.

"You don't have to apologise Cynder." Spyro said, and then he grimaced. "Can we land for a bit? I'm not feeling great."

"Neither am I." Cynder admitted.

The two dragons gently touched down on the slope of the volcano. The volcano was still active, but hadn't erupted violently since the defeat of the Dark Master. The lava flows mostly spread from the western side of the volcano, Cynder had flown herself and Spyro to the eastern side. Cynder landed on a precipice of rock and looked over the mountainside. Spyro landed beside her and the pair of dragons lay down together to rest their wings.

"So what did you do wrong?" Spyro asked. Cynder looked at him. When Imperia asked that question she was nearly always teasing, but Spyro seemed genuinely interested.

"When I was first learning to fly with wind magic I always spun and crashed, but I was always flying slower then. It took me almost a whole year to master the skill I tried up there."

"Does it have a name?"

"Not any that I know of. Imperia didn't mention one. She taught me of course."

"Of course. So is that sort of what wind magic feels like?"

"Did you get the feeling that the wind wasn't just around you but inside you?" Cynder asked.

"Yes, it was really… sort of… intimate." Spyro said.

"I surrender my body to the wind, but the wind serves me, so I can go where I want as easily as I can control the wind itself. I am not explaining this well at all am I?"

"No, you're explaining really well. I think I felt what you mean, you're doing well to describe how easy it felt."

"That's how wind magic feels, it's a delicate balance that can be thrown out by anything, even growing bigger messes it up. I didn't even think that adding your weight would do the same thing."

"Even growing bigger effects your magic?" Spyro asked in fascination. He let the comment about his weight slide, it made sense.

"Oh yes, I stop practicing for a week and I have to relearn supersonic flight nearly from scratch, any change in my body effects the way that the wind works. According to Imperia the fastest I've flown is about one thousand and five hundred kilometres per hour, she claims to have passed two thousand, but I find that a bit unbelievable."

"You don't say." Spyro said. "If we hadn't gone from out there-" Spyro jabbed his tail at the horizon. "to here, like a falling star then I wouldn't have believed that it was possible for anything to go that fast ever. What does super sonic mean?"

"Supersonic. It's at roughly one thousand kilometres per hour, the vapour trail and changes in air density meant that we were flying faster than the speed of sound."

"And the exploding sound as we slowed down?"

"In a sense we outflew the sound of our flight. The way I stop flying at that speed is meant to be controlled. That way the soundwave doesn't affect me, but I forgot all about it this time."

Spyro couldn't quite get his head around flying at that sort of speed. He looked down the mountain at rock ledges and patches of dead trees, trying to work out how quickly Cynder could arrive at each one.

She wouldn't be so quick any more, she couldn't travel more than two hundred meters from him. At "Supersonic" Cynder flew at about one thousand kilometres per hour. Spyro was quite sure he could work out how fast that was per second. One thousand divided by sixty was like ten over six, or one point six. That was sixteen kilometres each minute, divided by sixty again for the kilometres per second was about point two eight kilometres each second.

At full speed, not counting her acceleration time, Spyro was pretty sure that meant Cynder would cross the entire length of their chain, 400 meters from one side of Spyro to the other, in around two seconds.

Two seconds.

"How long can you fly at supersonic for?" Spyro asked Cynder.

"About ten minutes at most and I need to rest after doing that. Also I can't do it if there's too much rain or wind in my flight path." She told him.

"I slow you down."

"No." Cynder said.

Spyro sighed.

"Yes I do, it's just a fact. I still would even if you couldn't fly at supersonic anyway. You'd get there faster without me, and I'll bet you can fight and hunt better without me, you know more about Malefor then I do, so you'll be more use when we arrive at Darkmire's tomb."

Cynder shook her head.

"There's nothing we can do about it. Besides I wouldn't be here at all if it wasn't for you, I'd be stuck in Warfang. It doesn't matter who would have been more efficient because we're going together now."

She reached out her paw and Spyro took it.

"It's just like a honeymoon."

The two dragons smiled.

* * *

Ten minutes later Spyro and Cynder were flying again, Cynder's wings still ached after what she's put them through but she wasn't complaining, it was good to stretch them. She created another tailwind for the two of them, this time it was justly appreciated by Spyro.

"About our date last night," Cynder began. "You paid for my dinner because I have no money."

Dragon currency took the form of gems; these gems were constructs of magic. This was convenient for most dragons as it allowed them to complete transactions without requiring any material payment and also meant that money pouches or personal safe-rooms were unnecessary. The obvious disadvantage of this currency was that hypothetically it was possible for a dragon to "hack" the system and cheat themselves to having infinite gems. Such a thing had never happened before, if it did there would most likely be, to use the technical term: a complete economic shitstorm.

This was the extent of Cynder's knowledge about money, not one of few her teachers had ever taken the time to explain the system to her, Malefor had never needed gems, Volteer had simply assumed she would already know about them and it hadn't even crossed Imperia's mind to teach Cynder that boring stuff when there were fun things that could be done. Cynder wouldn't have known even if she _did_ have gems, it wasn't like there was a convenient icon in the top right corner of her vision to tell her.

Spyro was answering her, Cynder returned her attention to him.

"Don't worry about paying me back Cynder. You're priceless to me, I don't mind at all."

"I'm priceless?" Cynder tried to decide if Spyro had called her that intentionally or just improvised it.

"Priceless." Spyro repeated. He was going to stick by his statement.

"Thanks Spyro." Cynder gave him a smile, "Still I feel I owe you two romantic dinners. I can hunt food for us while we travel; I know nearly everything about this whole area, up to the lake."

"Is this where you spent your time while you were away?" Spyro asked.

"Not at first, I used to spend most of my time at the old dragon temple so I could meet Imperia there until I grew stronger and could fly faster and further. Then I ranged all around the forest. After I learnt more advanced wind magic I went to see the sea."

"To see the sea? You mean the Legacy Sea?"

Spyro referred to the sea on the very northern borders of the dragon realms, easily weeks of travel away, there were only stories about what was beyond it; Nero, the young electric dragon, had assured him that no dragon had crossed the Legacy Sea in living memory. According to some legends the dragon Ancestors held their council on a floating island "Beyond the waves" whatever that meant; it also referred to the sea as "The Sea of Destiny" for strange legend reasons. The legend was just as annoyingly vague as the one that told the origin story of The Dark Master, Malefor. Stupid ambiguity.

"Yes I travelled to the Legacy Sea, I'd never been to the sea and I wanted to go. When Volteer heard about that he made a whole list of places for me to visit. The rift lakes were on the list, so was Tall Plains. After that I went looking for mountains."

"Mountains? Any particular mountains?" Spyro asked.

"I prefer tall ones." Cynder said.

"Tall ones." Spyro repeated, okay then. Tall mountains were admittedly quite nice, he agreed with Cynder on that point. Spyro realised this was a chance for meaningful conversation, so he seized it. "Why do you like mountains?" He asked.

"I like them because they're so big. It makes me feel small when I fly around them. I find them beautiful because of their shapes against the horizon. They make me feel special, when I perch on the summit of a mountain I sometimes feel like I'm the only dragon it the world." Cynder smiled.

"Nice mountains make me feel relaxed. I don't like snowy ones because they're too cold. The mountains around the south of Warfang where Waterfall Cave is are really nice. Darkmire's tomb was on Volteer's list too, but there was snow, so I wasn't planning on going."

"Now we're going there anyway. After we get there maybe we can do some sightseeing." Spyro suggested.

"I'd like that." Cynder smiled.

"Me too." Spyro said.

* * *

The barren volcanic plains were soon replaced by the unburnt forests that had once covered the Volcano's slopes. The forest in turn gave way to grassy plains rather like those around Warfang. Cynder took the lead from Spyro with perfect confidence; she had much more experience with keeping her sense of direction on long flights.

The two dragons flew over a long lake, for a moment Spyro thought it might be what they were looking for, but then he decided it was too small.

"What is that lake?" He asked Cynder.

"You remember when we broke the dam to stop The Destroyer?" Cynder asked.

"Yep, it didn't work."

"Well this is the reservoir that formed behind the dam." Cynder pointed to their right. "The dam must be down there somewhere, or at least what's left of it."

Beyond the water of the reservoir the forest returned to power, the seemingly endless sea of trees broken only by the occasional clearing. Spyro and Cynder kept flying.

The sun passed its zenith and began to ever so slowly fall towards the horizon, the two dragons eventually began to look for a place to stop.

"I think we've gained time on where Flare guessed we would be. Your wind magic sped our way." Spyro said.

"I can't say for sure, but it's possible we can reach Darkmire's tomb by nightfall tomorrow at this rate." Cynder said.

"We could fly through some of the night if you want. Get there earlier." Spyro offered. He was tired, but he was reluctant to show it. After a moment he realised that Cynder might actually take him up on that offer. "Actually no, we should find somewhere to stop." His belly growled helpfully. "I'm hungry." Spyro added.

Cynder laughed.

"I'll see if I can fix that. Let's fly for about twenty more minutes, if we see food or a good spot before then we can stop early."

"Deal."

The two dragons were only flying for ten minutes before they found both food and camp in quick succession. A mid-sized clearing looked like a good spot to touch down; it looked even more appealing when the dragons saw that there was a small herd of wild sheep already encamped there.

The wild sheep of the dragon realms were nothing like the tame ones, tame sheep had been kept by dragons since history began, for food and for wool mainly. There had always been the occasional canny sheep to escape the dragon owned flocks and make for freedom. Usually they died in the wild, hunted down by Dragons, Wolves, Cheetahs or any number of other hungry predators. It was ironic that the wild sheep had reaped such benefit from the dragon wars, particularly because their domestic brethren had all been… eaten.

Under the reign of terror lorded over first by Cynder and Gaul and then later by Malefor the sheep had marched to victory like nobody else, not even the end of the world could stop them. The war with the fire dragons had come up before the dragons could get their ex sheep under control and thus sheep had continued to flourish in the wild.

Cynder couldn't help but find the whole thing strangely funny.

The sheep that survived all this were barely comparable to the bouncy fluffy things the dragons had kept. These sheep had less in common with those sheep and more in common with wild boars, even the ewes had horns and they were all willing enough to butt heads with any threat. Cynder had underestimated the ferocity of sheep before and been on the receiving end of kamikaze assaults that would put the most savage orc to shame.

They were like super sheep. They still made good hosts for Phoenix Butterflies, so there was that.

It really was pretty funny.

Cynder stopped about two hundred meters out and floated there in the air, watching, Spyro stopped next to her.

"Do you have a plan of attack?" He asked. Cynder looked at the herd, there were twelve sheep sitting in a group.

"How hungry are you?" She asked.

"Hmm… Can I have one whole sheep?" Spyro's belly made a small protest. He sighed. "Actually maybe a sheep and a half?"

"Three sheep it is then. Hmm…" Cynder pondered for a moment. She could catch the sheep without any difficulty on open ground, but after she brought down one or two by surprise it could be annoying chasing another through the trees.

"Can I help at all?" Spyro asked. Cynder considered his offer.

"Yes. Fly down to the near side of the clearing as quietly as you can. Once you get there wait until a count of twenty, then make a disturbance and get the sheep to run. See the big tree on the other side of the clearing?" Cynder pointed to the tree, Spyro nodded in acknowledgement. "Get them to run towards that tree, I'll wait for them there."

"Got it."

Spyro glided down towards the clearing, making sure not to startle the sheep early. After he was in position Cynder gave him a nod and began to glide away silently. Spyro sat and waited, counting to twenty.

Cynder looped quickly around the clearing and laid her ambush with time to spare. She waited, poised to strike, for several seconds before Spyro made his distraction.

He used a comet dash of course, it had everything Cynder could want: speed, noise and fiery explosions.

It was such a good distraction it rather distracted Cynder, she was staring at Spyro, wreathed in spectacular fire, with admiration and barely even noticed the sheep start running towards her. Spyro launched fireballs to the left and right of the herd to keep them running in the right direction, Cynder recalled that she was meant to be catching them dinner. Spyro had done his part.

The black dragoness cloaked herself in shadows; the sheep never saw her even though they were running straight towards her. She prowled forwards and created a blade of wind on her wingtip, this technique was one of her favourites, it added range and versatility to her fighting style, and nobody ever expected her wingtips to be as lethal as her claws.

She caught the first sheep with her paws and drove it into the ground before easily breaking its neck. The other sheep didn't know what had hit them; they could only see the faintest outline of Cynder's form. She flicked her wing out, aiming to kill a sheep to her left, she put more force into the blow then she had meant to and her wing cut right through the sheep's horns and skull, violently bisecting the unfortunate creature's head. She glanced to her right as one of the last sheep ran past her that way, her tail struck out and she buried her blade into the sheep's spine, killing it instantly.

Too easy.

She released her shadows and looked back at Spyro; he smiled at her and started to walk over. He glanced around at the fires he had created, he swept his wings casually and all of them were instantly snuffed out.

"You got them?" Spyro asked. Cynder nodded.

"No problem, I was a bit messy on the second one though." She said.

Spyro looked at the second sheep. Well he looked at most of it; there was a section of skull over in the bushes that he couldn't see at the time.

"How did you do that?" He asked.

"A wind blade, I focused it on my wingtip. I used a bit too much magic and made the cut too big."

"Well remind me never to piss you off." Spyro said, examining the sheep. Cynder shifted the first sheep onto her shoulder and carried it partway back into the clearing, and then she put it down again. Spyro moved his sheep to the same place.

"We should bleed these." Cynder said.

"How?" He asked. Bleeding was typically done by hanging the dead animal up for a while to allow all the blood to collect in its head, this made it much easier to butcher. Spyro doubted that this was quite what Cynder had in mind.

Cynder answered the question for him by sinking her teeth into the throat of the sheep and beginning to drain it of blood. Spyro watched, his initial reaction was mildly disturbed, but after a second he realised that was a stupid reaction. Dragons ate raw meat as easily as cooked, they just preferred cooked meat because it tasted better. Spyro hadn't eaten raw meant in a long while; food in Warfang was prepared by chefs.

Cynder finished with a sigh and licked blood from her teeth. She put the sheep down and fetched the last one. She noticed Spyro's look and wondered if he was thinking badly of her.

"Meat cooks better bled, and blood stands in for water." She explained.

Spyro nodded, recognising that drinking the blood was a logical thing to do. He felt bad for his momentary reaction, Cynder was right.

He wasn't very thirsty, but it seemed a good idea to drink and stay that way if they wouldn't reach drinkable water until sometime tomorrow. He bit down and his mouth filled with blood.

Unlike Cynder Spyro had no idea what he was doing, blood spilt and he opened his jaws, then more blood spilt and he growled in annoyance. This was messy; Cynder had made it look so easy and dignified. He looked over at her, she shrugged and smiled.

"I can't help you." She said with amusement.

Spyro huffed. By the time he was done with his sheep Cynder had finished off the third, she was still perfectly clean.

"I'll need to teach myself how to do that." He said. Cynder nodded.

"I did, you can't imagine Imperia taught me to do this can you? It gets easier."

Spyro licked his lips, but he missed a bit of blood. Cynder automatically leant forwards and brushed it off him; Spyro smiled and nuzzled her cheek.

"Thanks." He smiled. "So what now?"

"Could you get firewood?" Cynder asked. "I'll start preparing dinner."

"Can you wait? I want to see what you do." Spyro said. Cynder nodded.

Spyro went and collected firewood, arranging it and lighting it extraordinarily quickly, clearly he wanted to watch Cynder prepare the food as soon as possible, or perhaps he was just hungry. Cynder smiled, thinking about him.

* * *

Spyro tended his fire and watched in fascination as Cynder skinned and prepared the first sheep. The usual method of doing this was to start cutting at the belly, Cynder had taught herself a different method starting on the sheep's back. This meant she had to cut through the stringy wool but made it easier for her to skin the sheep's legs.

"Oh, look." Cynder held up what looked like a bit of wool.

"What is it?" Spyro asked.

"A phoenix butterfly cocoon." Cynder smiled. "Let's see…" She threw it into the fire. There was a small flash, after a second a yellow and pink butterfly flew out of the flames.

"Butterflies that adapted to make their cocoons on the wool of dragon sheep. They developed the ability to survive and hatch in extreme heat." Spyro said. "That's either the cleverest or the stupidest thing any butterfly has ever done."

"It works, so I'd say it's clever." Cynder delivered her verdict.

Spyro watched her carefully slip the skin off the sheep and begin to gut it. She made a pile of "bad bits" and put a few "good bits" aside like the heart and liver. Cynder had learnt the edible parts from the inedible bits partly by sight, because entrails just looked disgusting, and partly by trial and error. She staked the sheep and put it over Spyro's fire.

Before long three sheep were cooking together, there were no herbs or spices of any sort for Cynder to add, but the meat itself she could cook very well, carefully turning it to make sure it was evenly cooked.

"Done." Cynder said eventually. Spyro took his sheep and Cynder took hers after setting the last one so it wouldn't burn.

"This is one romantic dinner paid back." Spyro said. He took a huge bite and chewed happily. "This is great."

"What romance?" Cynder asked after she'd swallowed her mouthful.

"I don't know. We can work that out together."

"After we've finished dinner." Cynder gave Spyro a teasing smile.

"Yep."

Or not.

Spyro abandoned his food to try to kiss Cynder instead, Cynder pretended that she would rather eat her dinner then reciprocate Spyro's attentions for a few seconds, then she abandoned the pretence and put her food aside too so that she could wrap her arms around the purple dragon.

Food could wait. Spyro had priority.

* * *

Cynder had fallen asleep quickly enough, but Spyro lay awake beside her. He listened to the sound of her breathing; he could feel her side moving against his. She looked so peaceful when she was asleep. He occasionally glanced around the clearing, reasoning that he was watching for danger that night, but really he was just watching Cynder sleep instead. He rested his paw on her shoulder and every few seconds he stroked her black scales. Doing so relaxed him.

Spyro didn't want to sleep, sleeping meant dreaming, and his dreams were rarely good ones. Last night he'd had happy dreams, maybe Cynder gave good dreams? But he didn't want to push his luck.

"You aren't sleeping." She said quietly. Spyro looked down at Cynder in time to see her emerald eye slowly drift open. She looked up at him gently. "Why aren't you sleeping?"

"I'm keeping watch." Spyro said, he leant down and kissed her forehead. "You can sleep."

"I have nightmares. I don't want to sleep if you won't." Cynder admitted.

"I have nightmares too." Spyro murmured. "I wish I could just lie awake all night and never feel tired."

Cynder shifted to rest her head against Spyro's chest. Spyro sighed; the touch was comforting to him.

"If you didn't want to go to sleep all you had to do was say so." Cynder smiled gently.

"I don't want to go to sleep." Spyro said. "Are you planning to do something about that?" He smiled.

Cynder answered him with a kiss.

* * *

The Chronicler could hear him just outside the door; he knew he was separated from almost certain death by only a thin layer of wood.

How could he have found the island? It was protected by powerful magic, and nobody should have known it existed in the first place.

At least the purple dragon had knocked.

Why the hell had he knocked? The Chronicler quickly but carefully inked the final symbol in his defence pattern and rushed to the pool of visions. In the pool he could see the purple dragon was pacing back and forth outside the door, patiently waiting for it to be opened, The Chronicler doubted he would wait for long. It didn't matter now though, if the symbols contained him then they'd contain him; if they didn't then The Chronicler would probably spend his last moments of life looking up into the burning yellow eyes of the Dark Master.

The thought made his heart beat faster, he had faced death before, but that time he had given his life. He would die again gladly for a worthy cause, but the Chronicler did not want to have his life snatched away from him now.

There was another knock at the door, this one was less polite then the first.

"I will break this down if you won't open it." The voice of the purple dragon was surprisingly pleasant, the Chronicler looked closer at the dragon reflected in the pool, he seemed too bright, like he was glowing all over with lightning. What was going on?

The purple dragon seemed to sense The Chronicler's gaze, he looked around behind him, and then he looked up at exactly the spot where his image was being reflected from. He couldn't possibly have known, but he did. Malefor watched him from within the pool then he turned back to the door.

The Chronicler felt a massive surge of power, he whirled around in time to see the door shatter into fire and splinters, the door meant nothing. The purple dragon strolled through it and glanced around the room beyond. His entire body flickered and glowed with electricity, The Chronicler recognised a Thunderlance when he saw one.

Malefor walked into the room seeming completely at ease, he looked at The Chronicler briefly and then turned and scanned the shelves of books. He didn't even notice the trap on the floor until he walked into it. Walls of energy sprung up around him, cutting him off from the world.

Malefor frowned, he tried to step through the barrier, but it sizzled threateningly. He sat and looked at the Chronicler with slight disappointment.

"Why are you here?" The Chronicler said, advancing on his trapped visitor. "What do you want?"

The dragon in the force field said nothing. He just watched him silently; The Chronicler felt a prickling sensation on the back of his neck and turned around.

He turned around to see two shining purple eyes; the dragon was right behind him. He yelped in surprise and back pedalled, his heart was pounding. This new Malefor didn't pursue him, he just smiled.

"One of the Electricity Guardian dragons used this trick. It wasn't even invented when I was first alive. Creating an illusion of oneself with electricity, the only flaw of the technique is that it looks like your copy is constantly charging an electric attack. I spent ten minutes learning this ability, soon I shall perfect it."

"Thoran." The Chronicler said. The electric dragon who had later become a mass murderer had been the one to develop the illusion technique.

"Yes Thoran… that was his name. He's going to die, you know. Monsters like him have no place in this world." Malefor said. The illusion that the Chronicler had captured winked out of existence. Malefor stepped forwards, regarding the Chronicler with new interest.

"I know you from somewhere don't I?" He frowned, trying to match a name to a very out of context face. "Ignitus, the fire guardian. Yes I do know you; you're the one that I made sure Cynder didn't catch."

Ignitus stood tall, at full height he was almost exactly the same height as Malefor.

"Are you here to kill me?" He asked calmly.

* * *

 **The wonderful thing about writing is that it can broaden your horizons in ways you could never have imagined. Transonic flight physics is a completely fascinating field of knowledge I never would have discovered had I not needed to teach myself the basics for this chapter.**

 **Worst F#%king scene ever.**

 **No, I'm exaggerating, it isn't quite that bad. It would definitely be a lot worse if I hadn't had the help of John's Hourglass, he's been invaluable help for a little while now, but this chapter is the first one (of many I imagine) where I can officially thank him for improving my writing. So thanks John! I have now expanded my dedication.**

 **As ever I appreciate all reviews and I thank you so much for reading.**

 **I have another song for you, this one doesn't have quite so much to do with any individual character but is more like a statement. If you haven't noticed I place a great deal of meaning in music, and this song... I'll just let it speak for itself. It makes me feel relaxed when I'm feeling down or stressed, it gives me something to smile to myself about:** **Nothing, by The Cat Empire**

 **"Say what you have to say, write what you want to think."**

 **-4Dragons**


	12. Far From Home

Spyro and Cynder had been flying for well under an hour when they reached the rift lake. Both dragons had slept well and felt ready for a day of flying. Cynder hadn't expected them to come upon the lake so soon, but there was no question that this was the right lake. It was massive; the far side was the faintest smudge on the watery horizon, to either side of the dragons the lake simply went on forever. Cynder had seen the Legacy Sea which was even larger, but Spyro had never seen a lake that was so big. The water was almost entirely still and remarkably clear, but the lakebed sloped downwards into the gloom where it was impossible to tell how deep the lake really was. The two dragons landed to drink their fill before continuing their flight; the fresh water was very cold, but nice.

Cynder was looking for floating icebergs on the lake so it was Spyro who first noticed the dragon flying towards them.

"Cynder look." Spyro pointed, Cynder looked.

"Is that another dragon?" She asked.

"I think so." Spyro replied.

Soon the unknown dragon was close enough to see. They were yellowish, an electric dragon, and quite large. Spyro and Cynder stopped and hovered as the dragon flew closer.

Thoran measured up the two dragons he'd been told about. Spyro and Cynder, they had to be these two, but he wasn't very impressed. The female was very attractive, slender and almost whiplike, the male was quite lean, he moved with unusual grace for a grown dragon, he reminded Thoran of a wolf or perhaps a predatory bird. They looked almost fully grown, but he could see their youth in their behaviour, both of them were barely more than whelplings, children to his eyes.

The second purple dragon Thoran had met in only a few days called out to him.

"Hello? Are you from Darkmire's tomb?" He asked. Thoran frowned, he hadn't thought about what he should say to the two dragons.

"Yes. I was a guard there." He replied. He set his wings and began to glide downwards; the other two did the same.

"What's your name?" The purple dragon asked. Thoran hesitated; there was a chance that these two dragons would recognise his real name, better not to give it. Thoran landed but he noticed that the black dragoness chose to remain in the air, hovering just above the ground. Wind dragoness, she had to be, no other dragon was capable of floating like that.

"My friends among the other guards call me… Dagger." He said, inventing the name on the spot.

"Dagger." The purple dragon repeated. "My name is Spyro and this is Cynder," He gestured to the dragoness, who inclined her head. "It's good to meet you." Spyro added.

"Yeah. Can we skip the niceties? You're going to Darkmire's tomb, looking for Malefor. Save your effort. He isn't there anymore."

"How do you know?" Cynder asked.

"Because he told me." Thoran said.

"You met him?" Spyro asked. "Why didn't he kill you?"

"I met him, and he wanted me to pass on a message to you. He said he's gone to The Catacombs, somewhere around a waterfall cave. He said you would know what he meant."

"We know where that is." Spyro said. The two dragons had awoken in The Catacombs years ago after being trapped in crystal. Cynder frowned, sensing something unusual.

"He knew we were coming? When did you talk to him?"

"Evening, three days ago. Why does that matter?" Thoran asked.

"Because we didn't know we were coming here until well after that." Cynder said.

It didn't make sense, the day Thoran referred to was the day Cynder and Spyro had had their date, then the day after that Cynder had gone to the Dragon Academy, fought the others and spent the night with Spyro, it hadn't been until the morning that the two had known they were going to Darkmire's tomb at all.

"That's true." Spyro said in surprise. "How did he know?" He asked Thoran.

"I don't know; I can't help you with that. Maybe he knows everything; I wouldn't be surprised if he did. But I'm wondering, you two aren't seriously going _looking_ for Malefor are you? He's like a god, you can't fight him."

"We won't know that until we try." Spyro said confidently.

"I know you by reputation, Purple Dragon. You think you're a hero Spyro, but you're a fool. I already tried to fight him; you can't do better than I did."

"What did you do?" Spyro asked.

"I tore his spine open, stabbed him through the heart and fried his blood with lightning. He shook it off like it was nothing! He disappeared from under my claws with his dragon time and healed the wounds with purple light. It's impossible to take a dragon that can stop time by surprise!" Thoran couldn't help but get angry; it was insulting for him to have failed so completely against another dragon.

"Dragon time can't stop time." Spyro said. "I have that ability too, and it only slows time, not stops it. Also it needs to recharge after a certain amount of use."

"You're wrong. Whatever you've got, he's got it better. I know what super speed feels like, I've dealt with wind dragons like your little girlfriend before. This isn't that, he stopped time completely, and if you can't do that then you won't stand any more chance then I did. Can you heal yourself with purple light?"

"She's _not_ my girl-" Spyro paused. "Oh wait, yes she is my girlfriend." He looked at Cynder apologetically. "My bad."

"Are you two planning to defeat Malefor with a comedy routine, or just stare at each other vacantly and hope he dies of his own accord?" Thoran growled.

He was so tempted to kill these ridiculous dragons. His paws were actually tingling at the thought of tearing into them. He wondered if the black dragoness was a screamer, the pretty ones usually were. He allowed himself to fantasize about killing the two pests for a moment, but he knew that there was no point. He still needed something from them after all.

"I can't heal myself with any coloured light; I use red crystals like all other dragons. That doesn't matter, because we beat the Dark Master once before, and we can do it again."

"Malefor, his name is Malefor." Thoran said.

"He goes by both." Spyro said.

"Not anymore he doesn't. He got quite annoyed when I called him that. More annoyed by a name then my attempt at killing him."

"What did he say?" Cynder asked.

"He said… I tried to kill him, and then after that he said… "I never wanted to destroy the world" and something about… his destiny, fighting with his destiny, or something along those lines. Then he told me where to find you two and then he left."

This didn't fit in very well with what they knew of the Dark Master, or Malefor as he apparently wanted to be called, Cynder would have expected him to kill every dragon at Darkmire's tomb and write out his request in their blood. It's what he would have made her do when she had served him.

"How did he escape the prison?" Cynder asked.

"I'm not sure. I think he killed most of the guards." Thoran said, bending the truth to suit him. "He just wanted me to tell you about the waterfall cave."

"That'll probably be a trap. We aren't going to blindly follow Malefor's path, are we?" Cynder said, looking at Spyro, who nodded in confirmation.

"No, we're going sightseeing Malefor or no Malefor." He smiled at the black dragoness and she smiled in return; clearly the couple had some in-joke Thoran didn't know. Thoran didn't particularly care though; he had more important things to worry about.

"Thankyou Dagger, for telling us what you know. We're going to Darkmire's tomb first and the Catacombs second, you can travel with us if you'd like." Spyro said politely.

"I'm not going back there." Thoran said. He smiled apologetically at the two dragons. "Sorry I can't be more help. Actually there's something I want to ask you two, before we part ways."

"Sure." Spyro said.

"There's… An item that's precious to me. A long golden spear called The Dragonslayer. I was going to look for it as it may be powerful enough to kill Malefor. Do you two know where it is?"

This was what Malefor had promised him the two dragons would know. The Dragonslayer meant more to Thoran then anything in the world, he had fought and killed with it for all his life, the spear was part of him, part of his very _soul_ and he wanted it back. He would find the Dragonslayer, reclaim it, and kill the one who carried it.

"The Dragonslayer?" Cynder said thoughtfully. "That's true; the Artisan weapon may be capable of killing Malefor. It's in Warfang, in the possession of Imperia. I doubt she'll want to give it to you, but if you explain why you need it then she should be fair."

"Imperia, I think I know that name. Is she a wind dragoness like you?" Thoran asked.

"Yes." Cynder said. Something struck her as off about this electric dragon. She couldn't pin down what it was, but she didn't really like Dagger and she doubted Imperia would like him either.

"I'll talk to her."

I'll kill her, Thoran decided. Malefor and everything else can wait until I've killed Imperia and gotten my Dragonslayer back. Thoran nodded politely to the two dragons.

"Thanks for telling me. I'll travel straight to Warfang."

"Fly safely Dagger." Spyro said. He stepped away and took wing; Thoran did the same and turned in the opposite direction.

"Good luck Spyro and Cynder." Thoran called to the two dragons. He wasn't sure why he said it; perhaps he felt that they deserved luck. They would certainly need some.

* * *

"Was it just me, or was there something strange about Dagger?" Spyro asked.

Cynder had found icebergs, now the two dragons were flying over deep dark water, getting closer to Dante's Freezer.

"No, I thought so too. He seemed restless, a bit twitchy." Cynder said.

"Imperia's a good judge of character, if there's something wrong with him she'll see it." Spyro said.

"I guess so." Cynder said.

"There's something else that I was thinking about. How _are_ we going to defeat Malefor? It's a miracle that we did the first time. If it's true that he has a stronger dragon time then I do then there's no guarantee we can even get close to him, let alone hurt him. You don't have dragon time at all Cynder, you could be completely helpless against Malefor stuck as still as a statue, and I wouldn't be much better."

"I do have dragon time." Cynder said.

"Huh? Since when?" Spyro asked. He had always thought dragon time was the ability of the purple dragons only.

"Since always. Malefor taught me so that I could fight you, not that it helped."

"Why have you never mentioned that?" Spyro asked.

"It never seemed like the right time." Cynder replied. "And besides I can't stop time very well at all, I don't know how to control it."

"I think I can show you how." Spyro said. "You just breathe deeply and focus and then you sort of…" Spyro did a thing; Cynder felt a buzz in her belly. The world turned purple and the air turned strange. Cynder suddenly found that the wind didn't respond to her will, or part for her body properly, as if it was all slowed down, she had to flap a few times before she worked out how to fly easily again.

"This is weird." She said. Spyro looked at her, he opened his mouth and made words, it took them a moment to reach her.

"You _can_ use dragon time!"

"I still don't know how to use it." Cynder replied. Spyro frowned, watching her mouth move before the sound reached him. He replied and she heard him just after.

"I guess this demonstrates that sound has a speed."

The world returned to its normal non purple shade, Cynder was able to fly normally again.

"I don't know how to activate dragon time myself, but my powers activate when you use yours." Cynder said.

"We'll need to practice that. If Malefor can stop time completely we'll need to do that too."

"Is that even possible?"

"I used to be able to use one minute of dragon time, but now I can maintain it for nearly three. With practice I think that we can make time itself stop entirely."

"Let's hope so." Cynder said.

There was silence for a minute. Then Spyro spoke.

"I don't have a problem with you not telling me you had dragon time until now. I'm glad you told me. Can I just ask though, is there anything else you haven't told me Cynder?"

"There is one thing." Cynder admitted.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Spyro said. "But I'd prefer that you did. Is it important?"

"Maybe not. But maybe it is. Sometimes, just sometimes, you look a bit like Malefor. Imperia says she's noticed it too, it looks like a cloud passes over the sun and you are shrouded in its shade. It makes your scales look dark purple."

"I haven't noticed. But I believe you. What should we do about it?"

"I don't know. It's probably nothing, but you did ask if there was anything else I hadn't mentioned."

"Malefor and I share other qualities besides our colour." Spyro said in his best Malefor impersonation. "Gwah! I am ETERNAL!" He yelled, and then laughed.

"Never. Do that again." Cynder said sternly.

"Oh. Sorry. Was it in bad taste?" Spyro said, chastened.

"No." Cynder started laughing. "It was _terrible_. I cringed, if you ever did that around anyone else then I'd probably die of embarrassment."

"This will be my secret weapon. The power to kill you by Malefor impersonation. You dare not oppose me!" Spyro joked.

"Maybe we really can defeat Malefor with a comedy routine. He'll laugh himself to death."

"We'll add it to the list."

"We have a list?"

"Yep. It reads… Explosions. Malefor Impersonation. Romantic comedy routine. Explosions."

"Explosions is on the list twice."

"I like explosions. Your thoughts?"

"Does the set of all sets that do not contain themselves contain itself?"

"Isn't that the set theory paradox?"

"It's an unanswerable question, he'll go crazy trying to figure it out."

"The worst he can do is work out a satisfactory answer." Spyro said. "I wouldn't have thought you would know about the set theory paradox."

"Volteer taught it to me. This is the first time it's ever come up in useful conversation."

"I didn't realise this was useful conversation." Spyro said. Cynder laughed.

* * *

"Spyro?"

"Yes?"

"I've been thinking about something."

"That's a dangerous habit."

"Imperia already got me with that one." Cynder said.

"And she's gotten me too. She uses it all the time." Spyro said with a smile. "But what were you thinking about?"

"Have you ever considered taking multiple mates?"

Spyro reacted as if he'd just flown into an invisible wall. He sort of jolted to a stop in mid-air with a shocked expression on his face. He flapped his wings to return to his flight path and looked at Cynder, startled.

"Is this about Imperia trying to kiss me?"

"She succeeded in kissing you." Cynder pointed out.

"Yeah…" Spyro said with embarrassment.

Cynder hadn't asked only for Imperia, she was actually thinking of Miasma when she'd started wondering. Suddenly Ember showed up in her mind as well, Cyria and Flora joined the group. Spyro had a whole harem of eligible females hanging around him, Cynder suddenly realised. That wasn't a bad thing for her though, after all Spyro had made it abundantly clear he chose her over all competition.

"Never mind, forget I asked." Cynder said.

Spyro almost let it go, but Cynder had told him something when he'd asked, so it was fair to answer honestly.

"I have thought about it a bit, I mean there are a few other dragonesses who I might... I don't know, but you're the one I love Cynder, don't you even think that you aren't special."

"I think that's a double negative." Cynder said. Spyro thought it over.

"I'm pretty sure it's not. Besides you know what I mean." Spyro said. "There's nobody who's like you Cynder, nobody I'd rather be with. And for the record I think you're a better kisser then Imperia."

Cynder flew silently for a few seconds before making her reply.

"Imperia was the one who taught me how to kiss."

Spyro promptly flew into another invisible wall.

"Are you okay?" Cynder asked. The way that Spyro had stopped and gawked at her made her worry that she was causing him some sort of mental damage.

Spyro nodded, looking immensely embarrassed. Kissing practice was an extremely awkward subject anyway; bring Imperia into the equation and it just became that much worse.

"I'm fine." He mumbled. He wasn't able to look directly at her.

Cynder frowned, but didn't question him any further. The icebergs were getting more frequent; they had to be nearly there. The water around the floating ice was almost black and totally calm, it looked very deep indeed.

Cynder found herself staring at it, trying to spot something, anything, down there. She saw nothing; it was like a deep cold void.

"Do you believe in sea monsters?" Cynder asked.

"Sea monsters? Why are you wondering?"

"Well, look down. Doesn't the water seem… spooky? Maybe it's just me. I went to the sea and I saw a storm there. The waves were taller than I was, waves taller than the walls of Warfang even that smashed and roared on the beach. It made me think. There could be some huge creature the size of the Destroyer down there in the dark and the cold, just lying there watching us fly high above. We would never know."

Spyro looked down at the water. He had never liked deep water, and he didn't trust boats. He was happy enough flying over water and if he could swim down and touch the bottom he was fine with it, but deeper than that and he preferred to avoid it. Interestingly his opinion aligned exactly with Cynder's on this matter.

"Most of what I know about sea monsters actually comes from Nero, the same electric dragon who you fought in the colosseum. He's completely fascinated by boats, but I can't understand what's so good about them. He loves sailing and the water; he's always talking to sailors and looking for stories about the sea."

Spyro shook his head in amusement. He had never thought the broody electric dragon could be enthusiastic about anything, let alone be capable of chattering for several minutes on one subject.

"Do you know who's really scared of sea monsters? It's the moles. They are the most scared of sea monsters of any race. You can sort of understand why can't you? Imagine being a mole on a boat in the water, you can't run, or fly, or hide. There's nothing you can do and then… chomp."

"I don't like that image." Cynder said.

"Neither do the moles."

"I agree with them. So, do you believe in sea monsters?" Cynder asked.

Spyro looked down at the water before answering.

"Yes. I do believe in sea monsters."

"Me too." Cynder said. She looked down, but the ice had grown too close together to see the water below.

She looked ahead, a miserable fortress huddled against a huge shelf of ice. She didn't like the look of it very much; it may have been the spiked walls, or all the ice. It was getting chilly, she didn't like that either. Most of all it was the feeling of familiarity, she felt like she should know this place she also knew that she didn't, and it wasn't a nice feeling.

"Dante's freezer." Spyro said.

"Let's not stop." Cynder said.

"Sure, we get our bearings and we're gone." Spyro agreed. "Flare suggested using the dragon constellation. So we need to wait for that."

"No we don't; Imperia taught me astronavigation, it's an invaluable skill for long flights. We can just use the sun."

Cynder looked up and considered the sun thoughtfully.

"Do you know about how far north of Warfang we are?"

"We travelled nearly exactly north first, and then east, now we've come slightly south again. Probably no more than four hours flight directly north." Spyro guessed.

"I thought three, but it's close enough. We're going that way." Cynder pointed.

"Are you sure?" Spyro asked doubtfully. This didn't seem like enough to go on.

"Almost completely, let's go."

"I feel so much better now." Spyro grumbled sarcastically. Cynder looked at him; he smiled to show he was teasing.

* * *

The two dragons flew onwards in the direction that Cynder had chosen. It really was getting a bit cold, Cynder thought as she flew; she flapped her wings a few times to warm them up. At least the sun was still nice and warm.

The mountains appeared quite unexpectedly on the horizon. What had seemed like a featureless white cloud suddenly evolved into a jagged patchwork of white snow and black stone. Cynder thought it looked a lot like Seizo's chessboard, but without the even squares.

The two dragons flew closer to the mountains, and they grew taller and taller rapidly. Spyro was thinking about what Cynder had said about how mountains made her feel small, looking up at the massive shapes before them he could understand exactly what she meant.

"These seem like nice mountains." He said to her.

"They are quite nice." Cynder agreed. "I'm glad we came."

Once they reached the base of the mountains they found they were unable to continue. The mountains were very tall indeed, their jagged peaks were shrouded in the cloud and looked too high to fly over. Cynder might have managed, but Spyro definitely didn't want to try that way.

"There's supposed to be an ice valley around here." Cynder said.

"Like that one?" Spyro pointed.

"I guess so."

What Spyro had spotted was a deep narrow chasm between two of the nearest mountains, it was difficult to tell how far it went, because it twisted almost immediately to one side and what lay beyond that was hidden from the entrance.

The two dragons flew into the chasm; it wasn't even wide enough for the two of them to fly side by side. The moment they turned the corner they were surrounded by black stone, snowdrifts hid the ground below them, and white cloud hid the sky above. Cynder had rarely felt so trapped, she'd also rarely felt so cold, the sun was gone now.

The two dragons turned another corner and the ice valley unfolded before them. There was no question that they had found it, the valley must have once been a frozen river or perhaps a lake, but it must have frozen a very long time ago, because what was left was like nothing Cynder had ever seen.

The Ice Valley was a haunting sculpted landscape that gave Cynder chills that had nothing to do with the frigid cold that cut through the air. It was beautiful.

The valley itself was quite plain, perhaps a hundred meters deep. It was almost but not quite straight with walls of scarred black stone, and was almost perfectly V shaped. The ice part of the name, however, was what made the sight so mesmerising.

"Volteer certainly recommended an amazing place." Spyro murmured.

It must have been a lake that had once filled the valley; it was too big and too deep to be a river. The frozen surface of the lake had been utterly rent and shattered by the ice below it, creating hundreds if not thousands of cracks and fault lines in the ice. The surface was whorled and alien, worn smooth by the rain and wind. Over time, Cynder couldn't guess how long, huge pieces of the ice had worn away or broken and fallen. What was left was an implausible twisted maze of hanging ice, alternatively smoothly flowing or sheets of razors.

"That's… incredible." Cynder said.

"Remind me never to doubt your navigation skills again." Spyro said.

"Let's go." Cynder said.

* * *

The two dragons soon discovered that the seemingly still ice was less stable then it had appeared. The massive weight of the smooth ice above was barely supported by the ice below, it groaned threateningly above them, elsewhere the two dragons heard splitting cracks, but fortunately no ice fell.

"Could you create something like this?" Cynder asked. Spyro was an ice dragon after all.

"Perhaps, but it would take months, years even. The scale of this effect is massive. It should be a must for all ice dragons to come here. I could barely have imagined something like this."

As they flew deeper into the mountains the dragons found that the delicate balance of the ice became weaker and weaker, eventually they found the end of the hanging ice, beyond that point the entire structure had fallen to the valley floor at last and the two dragons had relatively open sky above them again. The sky was getting darker now, and cold wind was funnelled into the valley and towards the two dragons. Cynder deflected the force of the wind, but the cold wasn't so easy to stop. She was beginning to shiver.

"We'll need to stop soon." Spyro said.

"No, we can arrive tonight if we fly after dark for a while." Cynder replied.

The valley turned again, and it was getting even colder. Cynder was constantly flapping her wings to keep warm now, even more than Spyro. He looked at her with concern. He wasn't effected by the temperature, but he knew that to most dragons it was a serious threat.

"You look cold Cynder."

"I am cold. But we can still get there." Cynder said, she had to focus to keep her voice steady.

They flew for five more minutes, Spyro watched her the whole time.

"We aren't going any further." He suddenly insisted. "There's an outcropping down there we can rest under."

"We can't be any more than half an hour from Darkmire's tomb!" Cynder argued.

"You aren't an ice dragon Cynder, you could get hypothermia."

"Then I'll fly it off. I'm not going to slow us down; I won't be a burden to you Spyro."

"We're ahead of time thanks to you Cynder. You've done enough, we're stopping."

Spyro set his wings and glided down towards the outcropping he'd spotted. Cynder reluctantly followed; by the time she landed she was trembling all over. Spyro came over to her immediately and put his wing over her, the moment he touched her scales he flinched.

"You're as cold as ice!" He exclaimed. "Come here!" He wrapped his wing tightly around her slim body.

"You're hot." Cynder said in a trembling voice.

"You're hot too, but we need to get you warm." Spyro replied. Cynder smiled weakly.

He half carried her to the outcropping. The cold was sapping her strength; she could only lean on Spyro for heat and support.

"I hate snow." She muttered.

"Most dragons do." Spyro said. He rested Cynder down on a layer of the stuff while he changed his grip, then he lay beside her and slipped one of his wings under her. "Come close." He said.

Cynder crawled over his wing and pressed herself gratefully against Spyro's warm belly; she tucked her wings and curled up tightly. Spyro put his legs around her and then looped his tail over her back; finally he put his other wing over her body to shield her completely from the cold.

Cynder wiggled slightly to find the most comfortable position in the little space Spyro had made for her. Spyro allowed her to wiggle, after she had found her spot he shifted slightly and then tucked his head under his wing. He found his nose pressed against Cynder's, both dragons snorted slightly in amusement.

"Fancy seeing you here." Cynder smiled. Spyro nuzzled her.

"Do you feel any better? Are you warming up?" he asked.

"You've very warm. I'll manage, but I'm all tired out."

"Just rest Cynder."

"I was planning to." She mumbled.

"Good plan." Spyro said. He rested his head against hers, Cynder closed her eyes.

"My hero…" She said sleepily, Spyro replied, but Cynder was asleep before he'd finished his first word.

* * *

The only way Cynder could judge time passing was the sensation of Spyro's steady breathing and heartbeat against her side. She started imagining his breathing was minutes and his heartbeat was seconds, but in this case there were only eight seconds to each minute. Counting the minutes sent her off to sleep again.

* * *

When Cynder next woke she felt well rested, more importantly she felt warm. She smiled to herself and gently wrapped herself around the still sleeping Spyro, she wasn't quite as protected in that position, but she was more in contact with Spyro, so it was worth it to her. She poked her head out from under his wing and groaned quietly when the cold hit her. She really did hate snow.

It was probably morning, the valley was still dark because the sun hadn't raised high enough to peek over the mountains, but the sky was clearer and it was light, so come midday when the sunlight reached them Cynder might even be able to pretend this miserable rift was almost warm. They'd reach Darkmire's tomb before midday anyway, she was absolutely certain that they were very close. She tucked her head back under Spyro's warm wing and rested between his foreleg and chest.

Spyro felt the movement, it was soft enough to not immediately wake him, but it roused him from his sleep. He had slept really well; Cynder must cause good dreams, he decided. How ironic that Sparx still insisted on calling her Nightmare Girl. She had started cuddling him, she felt lovely, he smiled and opened his eyes. Cynder had moved around him, his head was now resting against her magenta underbelly, actually was it magenta? He'd been calling it magenta in his mind, but perhaps it was more crimson? Or maroon, maroon was a colour name, right? There had to be a name for the colour, but he didn't know it.

His head was resting against Cynder's underbelly. He kissed her and Cynder twitched, startled.

"You could start with a Good Morning." She said.

"Huh?" Spyro expanded his focus and rapidly determined exactly which bit of Cynder's underside he had just kissed. "Oh! Cynder I'm sorry!"

"I don't… mind… It was just a bit unexpected." Cynder admitted.

"I…" Spyro was staring, his mind was stuck. If he'd tried to continue his sentence probably the only word he'd have been able to manage would have been "Magenta"

Cynder shifted around so she was face to face with Spyro and then she kissed him firmly.

"I'll, uh, warn you next time…" Spyro mumbled.

"I'll be expecting it next time." Cynder said with a flirtatious smile. Spyro was briefly lost for words.

"I love you." He managed, which seemed to please Cynder.

* * *

Darkmire's tomb, true to Cynder's prediction, was barely fifteen minutes away. Despite that the black dragoness knew that stopping for the night had been a wise move. It wouldn't have been any fun getting into that intimidating fortress after dark, particularly not with her suffering hypothermia.

Volteer had describes the fortress as "Precariously perched above icy oblivion" and that was quite a good description. This trip had certainly been a good one for marvelling at the scenery.

The fortress was located halfway up the slope of the largest mountain the dragons had encountered yet; Spyro thought it might be the largest mountain ever. There was a narrow path that wound back over itself leading up the slope, it didn't look very stable. At the top of the path was a small triangular plateau against which the fortress stood. Darkmire's tomb had two walls, one with a huge sealed gate faced the plateau, and the other was a sheer wall built into the cliff like side of the mountain. It made Dante's freezer look as beautiful as the dragon temple… and it was still too damn cold.

"Let's go." Spyro said.

"Wait!" Cynder hissed.

"What is it?" Spyro asked.

"I think there's a dragon up there."

* * *

 **I want to draw a pretty picture of Spyro. If you're an artist at all then please get in touch as I will almost certainly need help from someone with actual drawing ability.** **A picture paints a thousand words, they say. I want to use Photoshop and pencils, not paint, but the saying still works.**

 **I have to say I'm rather proud of this chapter, things are starting to happen now. I thank you all for reading this story so far, and I fondly hope you continue to believe. There is much awesomeness still to come.**

 **I'm intending to rock your world, and that's a promise.**

 **"Never give up thinking"**

 **-4Dragons**


	13. Seeking Death

What Cynder had thought was a dragon turned out to be, on closer examination, a catapult similar to the ones on Warfang's walls. Despite this false alarm the dragons decided to approach Darkmire's tomb cautiously.

Cynder flew high and searched the area, Spyro stayed roughly a hundred meters below her so that the chain didn't impede her reconnaissance. Soon the two dragons reached the level of the plateau. Cynder went further up the mountain and checked the battlements of the fortress; there were no openings or items of interest on the roof, so she returned to the main massive doors where Spyro was waiting.

"See anything?" Spyro asked.

"A big old fortress." Cynder reported.

Spyro looked at her.

"Besides that."

"Nothing." She smiled.

Spyro was still giving her a look.

"Couldn't you have just said that at the start?"

"Yes. But I spent three years, _three years,_ talking only to Imperia."

"We need to get you some sort of help. First sightseeing, then therapy for you I think."

Cynder shrugged. The two dragons looked up at the walls of Darkmire's tomb.

"How should we get in?" Cynder asked.

Spyro walked up to the stone and reared up to put his paws against it. He frowned in annoyance.

"This is artificially stratified stone. It's been constructed in layers to stop earth dragons being able to travel through it easily."

"Earth dragons can travel through stone? Is that sort of like what the grublins and orcs can do with the ground?" This was entirely new information to Cynder, and it seemed kind of important. "Can you travel through stone?"

"Yes I can, and it's exactly like grublins and orcs, these walls would stop those creatures too. It must have taken them ages to build this. At least there's plenty of stone around." Spyro pressed his head against the stone and listened.

"It's at least a meter thick, probably more. Also there are razor sharp wires threaded through the walls. These guys have been pretty through."

"We aren't getting in through the wall then. How about the door?"

The two dragons looked at the door, and quickly looked elsewhere. Sometimes doors were made to be broken. This wasn't one of those doors and that was that.

"On second thoughts let's get in through the wall." Cynder said.

"Did you just have an idea?" Spyro asked.

"Follow me." Cynder flew around to the other wall of Darkmire's tomb, the one that fronted a sheer drop. She approached one of the arrow slits in the wall and hovered before it. The architecturally and mechanically minded moles had designed in-built arrow slits for their archers, hence they were called "arrow" slits, but dragons had adapted them for breath attacks, namely fireballs, without much difficulty.

The gap in the wall was about the same width as Cynder's head. No dragon could squeeze through that.

"Lovely. A window." Spyro said.

"I'll open the door from the inside, and then you can come in."

"Sounds like a theoretically solid plan." Spyro said. "But how do you get inside?"

Cynder smiled and shrouded herself in shadows. Spyro stared as the black cloud Cynder had concealed her body in slipped through the arrow slit. The shadows parted to reveal Cynder on the other side of the wall, the black dragoness looked around for a moment before turning back to Spyro.

"It's warmer in here." She said happily.

"That… was extremely sexy." Spyro said.

"I'll remember that." Cynder said with a smile. "Okay, the door's probably this way. If I can't open it I'll hoot twice like a barn owl and once like a brown owl, then you come around to this arrow slit and I'll come back out."

Spyro didn't have the faintest idea what even one owl hoot of any kind sounded like, but Cynder was gone before he could tell her so. He flew back to the door and waited, listening for general bird noises.

Cynder trotted down the corridor she had found herself in, she felt an urge to swish her hips and sashay, Spyro had called her sexy. That it was much warmer inside the fortress was an added bonus.

She couldn't quite work out where the warmth was coming from, the floor seemed to have some sort of central heating, but how exactly this might work was beyond her. She gave in to her urge and walked as sexily as she could down the corridor. There was nobody around to see her anyway.

* * *

Cynder found the antechamber that the big door opened to. Something had clearly happened here, there was blood on the floor. She checked each of the other corridors briefly but didn't see anything threatening. She examined the blood more closely, it was fairly old; it must have been there for a while. There was a scale on the floor too, a purple one. She picked it up; it was badly damaged, like it had been crushed.

She placed it back carefully on the ground and went to open the door.

Spyro walked in and immediately noticed the blood. He walked over to it then looked at Cynder.

"Did you find anything? And don't say corridors."

"Just that blood." Cynder said as she sashayed over to Spyro. He found her much more interesting than the floor.

"That's a different walk." He noted.

"Walk?" Cynder blinked. Oh yes, she had forgotten to turn her sexy walk off. "Um, I was just…"

"It was really sexy. You look great."

Cynder smiled bashfully, careful to hide her internal celebration. She could walk sexily more often; it wasn't that much harder than walking normally and was certainly more rewarding, Spyro was admiring her appearance again and she enjoyed it.

"I'll remember that." She said. She could let Spyro stare at her all day. Particularly if she was allowed to stare at him too, it sounded like a great way to spend a day really, but today wasn't the right day for that so she moved the conversation along. "What do you think of this blood?" She asked.

"Dagger said he'd hurt Malefor badly." Spyro picked up the purple scale. "It seems he was telling the truth."

"That scale is quite a bright purple. I recall Malefor being darker than that."

Spyro put the scale against his upper back, it matched almost perfectly but had a more pointed shape compared to Spyro's scales.

"Why wouldn't he have killed Dagger?" Spyro asked. He dropped the scale. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" He asked Cynder.

Cynder frowned. Her first thought was that the two dragons could be working together, but there was something else nagging at her.

"There's two possibilities. First is that Dagger serves Malefor, but that wouldn't explain why there's blood and the purple scale on the floor here. So… there's something that Malefor didn't…" She looked up, making a decision. "You're thinking there's something here Malefor didn't want us to see."

"Precisely." Spyro said with a brilliant smile. "Let's do some sightseeing."

* * *

The two dragons searched the corridors systematically, Cynder wasn't in the habit of being quite so methodical, but Spyro suggested it. They started at the top floor and worked their way down, each corridor in the fortress had a right angle turn halfway along it, on the outside edge the corridors had arrow slits like the one Cynder had entered through and on the other side were doors that led to the chambers of each guard dragon.

There were other rooms, like an eating room that was built well into the side of the mountain, but there were no dragons. No guards, no sign of a struggle, nothing. The two dragons finished their search at the bottom of the fortress, where a broad staircase led down into the darkness.

"There are rooms for up to thirty dragons. At least twenty were occupied, but we haven't seen anyone." Spyro said.

"They must be down in Darkmire's Tomb itself. Unless Malefor captured them or something like that."

"I doubt he captured anyone. It probably won't be pleasant down there." Spyro said.

"We have to find out for sure." Cynder said.

"Let's go." Spyro replied.

The two dragons began to walk down the stairs, the roof immediately lowered so that both dragons had to walk with their heads down. The darkness closed in around them. After a few seconds of walking the stairs were replaced by rough stone. The floor began to slope downwards steeply. Cynder noticed a scent immediately, she had trouble placing it for a few steps until she realised it was a mix of two more familiar scents. She didn't like the smell of underground, the smell of stone and dust, the caves with stalactites and stalag floor things smelt nicer, but this tunnel had nothing to recommend it.

"We must be in a cave shaft of some sort. I'll give us a bit of light." Spyro said. He began to glow softly.

Now the two dragons could look around and see where they were. They were in a crack, a crevice, a deep slash in the side of the mountain. It was perhaps two meters high at its widest point but was easily thirty meters wide, narrowing until the black stone closed back together. The closest thing Cynder could liken it to was the inside of The Destroyer's belly, she didn't like it very much.

Spyro, however, was fascinated.

"This is awesome!" He said. He abandoned the highest section of the rift like cave to crawl over to one of the edges and look at the stone. "It must be an ice cave." He added.

Cynder looked around, there was no ice, she was glad about that.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Since when did you care about caves anyway?"

"You have mountains, I have caves. Geology is essential to earth dragon training, the ground isn't just the ground, see, there are dozens of different types of stones, and dirts and fault lines. An earth dragon who knows what they're standing on has a huge advantage over one that doesn't."

"I see." Cynder said.

"You don't see… do you?" Spyro asked.

"Not really. But I understand why it's important for you. One of my elements is a bit like that."

"Poison?" Spyro asked immediately.

"Exactly." Cynder said, surprised he'd thought about it so quickly. "I base my poisons off naturally occurring plants, I used to only be able to create destructive poisons, but learning about plants has taught me that there are other ways to use this power."

"Your elements are so amazing." Spyro smiled. "Okay, we should keep going."

"Don't, Spyro. I can see you're dying to tell me about the cave, what sort of cave is an ice cave?"

Spyro's smile made Cynder feel warm inside. He was so happy at her interest.

"Okay. So the earth isn't entirely solid right? Like a small stone it can have cracks or weak lines in it. What we're standing in at the moment would have been one of these cracks a long time ago. We're standing in the weakest part of the stone in the mountain."

"That doesn't sound safe." Cynder said.

"Don't worry; I'd know if it was unstable. I probably could bring it down if I could find the right sort of fault line in here." Spyro looked around.

"Please don't." Cynder said.

"Okay." Spyro laughed. "I won't. It would take several minutes of feeling around anyway. Seizo would get it done much faster; he has a lot of talent in this sort of large scale manipulation. Seeing as these mountains are in a temperature region that can melt in the warm season, and the slope the fortress is on would get regular sun, water would get into the fault line and freeze. When water freezes it expands. We should walk while I talk, this cave could be very deep."

"Sure. So the water and ice forces the crack apart, makes it bigger?" Cynder asked, the two dragons continued their decent.

"Exactly, and it takes the path of least resistance which is why the cave is deep, wide and narrow like the fault line."

"I understand that." Cynder said proudly. Spyro nodded, still smiling.

He opened his mouth to keep talking, but he shut it again with a small snap when he placed the second scent that had been bothering Cynder.

It was blood, and no small amount of it. Not all blood smelt alike and there was a distinctive unpleasant affect to this smell, Cynder was completely certain that there was a dead dragon down there; and probably more than one. They had both been sure there would be but the smell of blood really drove the point home. Dragons had died in this deep oppressive hole.

"Let's be careful." Spyro said. Cynder nodded and the two dragons moved silently down through the earth.

Cynder could have spread her wings in the cave, even flown if she was careful, but she couldn't help but feel very trapped by the stone.

"How deep does this cave go?" She whispered to Spyro.

"We've come down at least a hundred meters." Spyro said, he looked back at the dull smudge of light that was their exit. "It could go much further." He said.

"That's just great." Cynder muttered.

The two dragons crept through the darkness. The cave roof grew lower; Spyro was forced so low he almost had to crawl on his belly. Cynder was thankful for her slim proportions.

There was no light now but Spyro's glow. Cynder had excellent night vision but she didn't want to think about how dark the cave would have been had Spyro not been there. She would have to use her wind to sense where the walls were in that case, but seeing using the wind was not as comforting as simply being able to see.

* * *

They heard it before they saw it of course, sound travelled well in the narrow cave. Cynder paused and looked at Spyro silently, he stopped walking and listened.

It was a scraping, dragging sound. Something was slowly crawling up the tunnel towards them. Spyro and Cynder hesitated, neither of them wanted to have a confrontation in a place like this.

"It could be a guard." Cynder whispered to Spyro. He nodded.

"Hello?" He called down the tunnel. The sounds stopped immediately.

"Identify yourself!" A dragon's voice yelled back. He sounded relatively young, but Spyro knew he could still be a threat.

"We were sent here by the Guardian dragons of Warfang! My name is Spyro and I'm travelling with Cynder." He called.

"You're too late." The dragon below them said. "There's nothing you can do." What bravado he had used calling to them the first time was gone, there as only weariness and defeat in the dragons voice.

"Let's go see him." Spyro said. He and Cynder kept crawling down the tunnel until they came across the dragon.

He was an earth dragon, and he was injured. Cynder guessed he was about thirty or forty, still young in dragon terms. His forepaws were bloody and cut; the scales on his belly were scratched badly. He also looked burned, like he'd been hit by a fire or lightning attack. His body was mostly brown, with green highlights on his scales.

The earth dragon looked at them with dull eyes.

"You're too late." He repeated.

"Are you okay?" Spyro asked.

"No. I'm nowhere near okay. He tore them all apart, you don't want to see that." The dragon said.

'What's your name?" Cynder asked.

"Nestoc." The dragon said. "Of Warfang."

"It's good to meet you." Spyro said.

"I can't say the same." Nestoc said, "you're going down there anyway, aren't you?" He sighed, and then he turned around and began to crawl back down the tunnel. Spyro and Cynder followed.

At the end of the cave there was a flat floor, Cynder and Spyro stretched their wings and backs, glad to be out of the tunnel.

Nestoc considered the two dragons, they were both quite young, and neither of them was particularly large. Spyro was tall but lightly built, he moved and behaved with confidence, like he had a great deal of power, he looked like a fighter, but this lean dragon had little resemblance to what Nestoc had thought a dragon of Spyro's reputation would look like.

Cynder didn't impress him, the dreaded terror of the skies redeemed walked with a similar sense of confidence to Spyro and was extremely graceful, but she was also constantly posing, swishing her hips as if she wanted to be stared at. She was certainly beautiful, but nothing more than a pretty face. He couldn't hold her evil past against her, or feel any fear of her; he just forced himself not to stare at her curves.

"I've heard a lot about you two, the dragons of legend and all that. Honestly I was expecting you to be bigger Spyro."

"You're not the first one to say so." Spyro replied.

Nestoc didn't reply. He limped across the floor, favouring his left paw, until he reached a place where the cave opened up.

"Welcome to Darkmire's tomb."

* * *

The three dragons stood on the edge of a massive pit. It was easily twenty meters across and Cynder could only guess how deep it was. A series of descending bridges crossed the gap. The cavern roof above them was jagged and sharp, the walls of the pit had rows upon rows of spikes to make climbing nearly impossible, and everything was spiky and looked dangerous.

"Who exactly was this Darkmire?" Cynder asked, rather disturbed.

"The other Black dragon." Nestoc said. He looked down into the pit.

"Very helpful." Cynder said sarcastically. This wasn't especially informative, and was also slightly insulting given that she herself was a black dragoness. "And?"

Spyro took over answering the questions.

"And nothing. We know practically nothing else. According to legend Darkmire terrorized the world and murdered countless dragons. When he died they built this tomb to contain his body, because it was feared he would rise again to bring about the end of the world."

"Sounds like we've got another Malefor down here." Cynder said.

"We've got a Malefor on the loose already, we don't want two." Spyro said.

The dragons made their way around the first ring of the pit until they reached the bridge. Cynder noticed holes in the bridge, Nestoc explained.

"These had lethal spikes on them, which were designed to only retract for a single minute to allow passage. It was a one way system. He took control of it all with his lightning and used the bridges against the others."

The spikes were retracted, and Nestoc seemed convinced they would stay that way; they had for several days after all. The dragons walked across the first bridge safely. Cynder couldn't work out why the bridges had spikes when you could just fly between levels, and then she noticed the razor wire. It had all been cut, every single strand, and it decorated the lower areas of the walls of the pit like ivy. It must have filled the whole space before it was cut; she shivered at the thought of flying through that. This place was nasty.

On the third level Nestoc stopped.

"I've done my best for the dead but…" He trailed off. Spyro and Cynder moved past him, into the next room, and he limped after them slowly.

There had been a last stand in this room. A fire dragon and two ice dragons had stood and died together. Cynder had seen death before, but she hadn't expected the brutal violence that had been visited on these dragons. When she had been controlled by evil her cruelty had been legendary, but now the thought of any dragon willingly inflicting harm like this on another made her sick.

Nestoc had laid the bodies out and put bandages over their wounds, but the smell of blood was think and heavy in the air. Spyro and Cynder looked on in horrified silence, Nestoc limped into the room, tears running down his snout.

"Why would Malefor do this?" Spyro asked. "He didn't have to kill them like this."

"Malefor didn't do this." Nestoc said, looking at them.

"Then who did?" Spyro asked.

"The insane lightning guardian. Thoran, he did this, he killed them and he laughed as he did it." Nestoc spat. "I swear he will die, I'll not rest until he pays for what he's done here."

"Was there a guard here named Dagger? Did anyone else make it out?" Cynder asked urgently.

"Perhaps the Captain of the guard and his younger brother may have had a chance. The Ice dragons, Gracious and Seth, there was no Dagger."

"Oh no." Spyro said. He looked at Cynder. "He'll be in Warfang by now."

"And he's looking for Imperia." Cynder whispered.

* * *

Volteer was patrolling the walls of Warfang. It wasn't the most interesting of tasks, but it took his mind off the things that were troubling him. He was worried about Malefor, the dark purple dragon had never entered the battlefield personally, preferring to summon legions of orcs to fight for him, but Volteer had little doubt he could destroy all of Warfang if he chose to do so. He was worried about Spyro and Cynder, they were smart and skilled enough to handle any trouble, but they were also unlucky enough to encounter plenty of it. Thirdly he was worried for Flare, the fire guardian had left to go to Shattershelf after the guardians had finished their council. There had been a law in place for centuries that the four guardians could only separate under very specific circumstances and with much ceremony. It had been painful in the past, Volteer had wanted them to just get rid of it entirely, but Terrador had insisted it stay. They had worked around it successfully though, which was nice.

Flare had taken several of the fire dragons from Warfang as part of her delegation; one dragoness that had chosen not to go was also guarding the walls. Apparently Seraphia had never gotten along well with Flare.

Volteer recalled that Seraphia had been one of the two dragons knocked out by the traitor in Warfang on the night that the vaults had been raided. She looked asleep, lying draped over the wall like that. For a moment he thought she might have been knocked out again and winced at the thought of such bad luck. Even the best dragon can get unlucky. He looked around for anyone else on the wall, but didn't see anyone.

He went up to her and was soon proven wrong. Seraphia wasn't unconscious.

She was dead.

Volteer had seen dragons die, he'd even killed a dragon once before. The memory of doing so had haunted his dreams for months afterwards until he'd talked to Terrador about it. Despite this suddenly having a dead dragon pop up in front of him was rather stressful for Volteer.

It was the way she had been killed that upset the electric guardian particularly. Lightning was quite a nasty way to die. Volteer rushed over to the fire dragoness and checked her pulse, but she was definitely dead. Her body was still warm, and somebody had killed her.

He recognised the way she'd been killed, she'd been struck from behind by lightning claws, and her attacker had aimed right for the base of her skull and smashed her spine before burning her. It was a brutal and effective way to kill, and Volteer recognised the style immediately. He closed his eyes and bowed his head, praying to the Ancestors first for the sake of the dead fire dragon and then again for the safety of every living thing in Warfang.

* * *

 **"The more you know the more you learn that you know nothing."**

 **I'd argue with this quote, I feel there are things we can know, and that knowing these things is not a matter of learning. It's philosophical, and the point is that the more you know the more you realize how little you actually know. Rephrased: It's the stupid people who think they know the most.**

 **Perhaps you can make a different interpretation to mine, and you may be right to think differently to me. I'm not always correct (usually but not always)**

 **Ooh, hey, there we go. You can have TWO quotes:**

 **"Nobody is always correct."**

 **-4Dragons**


	14. In the Monster's Wake

**Midway through this chapter I'll ask you to play a song. Please do this, it's Thoran's theme song and it suits him perfectly.**

 **The song is Indiscriminate Murder is Counterproductive, by Machinae Supremacy.**

 **If the name alone doesn't convince you then I don't know what would.**

 **This YouTube link probably won't work because fanfic . net is evil, but I can try to offer it anyway:**

 **watch?v=8Y05TDInaeU**

* * *

"What sort of monster is this dragon?" Cynder said. She hadn't liked Dagger very much when they had met him, but it was hard for her to put his face with the name Thoran and this savage violence.

The three dragons stood on one side of the room; they had to walk right next to the dead dragons to go deeper in the Tomb. None of them wanted to go close, but they also didn't want to admit it.

"The former Electricity Guardian of Warfang, I don't know much about him." Nestoc said.

"We didn't even think of him before we left." Spyro muttered. "Of course he was imprisoned at Darkmire's tomb. It's the only place where he wasn't a threat."

"Who is he?" Cynder asked.

"Thoran, the electric guardian before Volteer. He was often considered the most powerful Lightning dragon in history. He mastered extremely dangerous high level techniques, he specialized in using the Thunderlance, which is usually a suicide technique for an unskilled dragon. Then he started creating his own uses for Lightning, things no dragon had seen before, like his electric copy. Volteer has spent years trying to re-create Thoran's techniques. He was always unstable, but eventually he just went mad and nobody knows why. He went on a rampage; singlehandedly killed over ten dragons before the other guardians were able to confront him."

"And they sent him here?" Cynder asked. That seemed slightly harsh, this place was awful. Then again he had murdered ten dragons deliberately and with no reason.

"No. He beat both Cyril and Ignitus in combat at once before Terrador took him down, he fought the other three guardians all at once and he nearly won. He was locked in the prisons below Warfang, but he broke out and fled the city."

Spyro frowned, trying to recall the details.

"I think he went to the Dragon Temple for a while, and the Guardians fought him again there and captured him, I believe that Terrador almost died to get him. They tried to lock him up again but he would constantly kill everyone he could get his paws on. Eventually he was sent here where he couldn't hurt anyone else."

"And now he's gone again." Nestoc said. "And he'll do it all again. My little sister is in Warfang you know. She'd be about your age, her name is Flora."

Nestoc noticed Cynder flinch. Spyro too seemed discomforted by this.

"What's wrong? Is Flora all right? I haven't seen her in too long."

"She's fine." Spyro said. Cynder wouldn't look directly at Nestoc anymore, he wondered if she and Flora didn't get along. It would probably have something to do with Spyro given his discomfort, the purple dragon was fairly good looking, he guessed. He was pretty much entirely correct.

He dropped the subject. He didn't want to talk about anything while he was here among his dead friends. He walked up to and bowed his head over the dead dragons. He waited there silently for a moment, then he turned to Spyro and Cynder and shook the tears out of his eyes.

"Let's go. There were two other survivors." He kept walking.

The dragons crossed the next bridge.

"How did you survive?" Spyro asked.

"Thoran tried to use me as a hostage." The brown dragon said. "But I jumped across the pit."

"Good thing the razor wire is cut." Spyro said.

"It wasn't." Nestoc said. "I used an earth boulder to protect myself."

"And it worked?" Spyro asked. The brown dragon nodded.

"I cut my paws on the side of the pit." He held up his bloody left paw to show the injury. "And then I just held on there, knowing that I'd die if I fell. Thoran threw lightning at me but then he gave up because I wasn't worth killing." Nestoc looked at them. "I was lucky. The other two were thrown into the razor wire; they landed at the bottom but were still alive." Nestoc shivered. "I saw Malefor while I was on the wall, and he saw me."

"What happened?" Spyro asked.

"Nothing. He was floating up through the wire and it wasn't touching him. He paused when he saw me and just looked at me like he was sort of sad, then there was a flash of purple light and he vanished. The bridge spike retracted and the wire was all cut, I was able to fly to safety. I would have let go and died if he hadn't done that."

"Malefor cut the wire?"

"Yes."

That didn't seem right to Spyro and Cynder, Malefor wouldn't show mercy.

The dragons reached the second lowest level and there they met the last survivor. An old electric dragon rested next to a dead ice dragoness. He looked up at them as they approached.

"I sent you for help fifteen minutes ago." The electric dragon said with a weak attempt at humour. "I'd have seen you promoted if I'd known you were this bloody quick."

"Is she dead?" Nestoc asked. The old dragon nodded sadly.

"I'm sorry, young one."

Nestoc approached the dragoness and held her, crying softly. The electric dragon turned to Spyro and Cynder.

"Let's give him some space." And they left the room.

* * *

After several seconds the electric dragon dragged himself out of the room too. Cynder had never seen a dragon so badly wounded.

His right wing was completely gone; it had been entirely slashed off leaving just a gory stub that she couldn't look directly at. His left wing had massive holes in it too and looked as if it could break apart at any moment. Half of his right paw was missing, and the bandage on it was stained red with blood. He also had dozens of deep slashes on his back and right side from where he had fallen through the wire.

"Are you okay?" Cynder exclaimed. The electric dragon looked at her.

"I'll live. But I won't be flying home any time soon." He smiled weakly. "I think the razor wire may not have been the best design plan for this place. I'd cut it from the plans but… well, it's already been cut."

"Wings can regenerate, can't they?" Spyro asked.

"Yeah. I said I'd be fine. In a few years I'll look pretty again, may not even scar. If I was a cheetah they'd probably put me down, but dragons are dragons, huh?"

Neither of them said anything. The older dragon grunted.

"I figure it's no coincidence that we get visited by another purple dragon at this time. You'd be the young hero Spyro I've heard so much about. My name is Scara, which could be ironic in a few years if I heal up badly, why are you here?"

"A crystal from the Vaults of Warfang was stolen and taken here. The Guardians sent us to find out what had happened, because they believed the crystal was needed to return Malefor to life. We were tasked to help anyone left at Darkmire's tomb and then try to find Malefor. What happened here?"

"This here was Thoran's prison." The dragon nodded to an open door. "It just spontaneously opened and his chains were broken off. Nobody had reported anything suspicious before he started killing the guards, and nobody was able to check on the other two while he was in control of the bridge spikes."

"The bridge spikes?" Spyro asked.

"Worst security idea in dragon history. If whatever bastard invented those things can still feel pain then someday I'll go and thank him for installing them. Unless Thoran gets to them first, and I almost hope he does. I didn't even know it was possible to activate the spikes like that. I want him to die for what he's done, but he truly is a lightning dragon without compare. He lured us onto the bridges and then just…"

"How many dragons did he kill?" Spyro asked.

"There were twenty four of us here. Nestoc is alive, and so am I. The only others who might have survived are the ice dragon brothers. Gracious is captain of the guard, I was his second in command. Did you see those two above somewhere?"

"We didn't see anyone."

"In that case, I'd say he killed twenty two dragons on his own."

"That's insane." Spyro muttered.

"So is he." Scara replied. There wasn't much answer to give to that. There was a moment of silence. "Your pretty friend doesn't say much." Scara observed, looking at Cynder now.

"There wasn't anything to say." Cynder said. "But now you've mentioned it, which way is Malefor's cell, and what exactly did you have in there before it started walking around again?"

"That way. We had them both down there on the final level" The guard pointed. "The Malefor we had was a dead dragon, still recognisable by his body shape and a very dull purple colour that was nearly grey. He was definitely dead, he had no pulse, made no reaction to anything, didn't have rigor mortis though, he wasn't stiff. There was no way he could be alive but sometimes you almost felt like he was still looking at you, as if he knew you were there. We would glance into the cell every day, sometimes Malefor would be laying in a slightly different position, like he'd twitched, but nothing ever happened. I wanted them to behead him or something, something to make him more dead, or just deader, but that wasn't allowed apparently."

Spyro and Cynder crossed the last bridge, the room beyond was very small and contained two doors. The space seemed to absorb light and drown it. This wasn't just a place light rarely reached, but a place that light had never been meant to reach. Spyro glowed again so they could see, the two dragons entered the open cell; there was nothing of interest in there, just empty chains and a shredded scrap of metal. Cynder picked that up and looked at it.

"I guess this was what Malefor's crystal was sealed inside." She put it down and nosed it over, then sniffed it. "Nothing special. It's just a piece of iron." She reported.

"All hail the wisdom of the guardians. We're completely useless." Spyro grumbled.

"At least we saw the mountains." Cynder said.

"True." Spyro smiled and put his wing over Cynder, she rubbed her side against him. Cynder had stopped using her sexy walk after they'd seen the dead dragons above, but tucked under Spyro's wing she felt happy enough do it again for a while, it made her hips bump Spyro's.

They stopped to look at the other door before they left. It was still closed and chained that way. Cynder found it hard to look away from it. Spyro slowly walked towards it and reached out to touch it. Cynder would have stopped him, but she hadn't expected him to do it. As Spyro touched the door he jumped, as if he'd been given a static shock.

"What is it?" Cynder asked, but Spyro didn't need to answer, because at that moment a glowing poem appeared inscribed on the door. It glowed purple, and was almost exactly the colour of Spyro's scales.

Cynder looked closer at the script, it was elegant and sort of archaic, as if it had been written a long time ago.

 _Doomed one,  
Fated to answer the call,  
Black or Purple,  
Dragon to end it all_

 _A message  
Isolation  
An Eternity  
Salvation_

 _Dragon to read this  
I offer thee safety  
let the world live on  
Choose the dark with me_

"Because that isn't spooky at all." Spyro said.

"What is it?" Cynder asked. "It's not the classic "Dare not open this door" type of warning I'd have expected."

"I think it's still a warning of some sort. "Doomed one" Hmm… I wonder why it only appeared then. Maybe a purple or black dragon has to touch the door?"

The words were fading; Cynder watched them shimmer out of existence.

"Try touching the door." Spyro suggested. Cynder did so, but the words did not return. Spyro touched the door again and then the words reformed for him.

"I don't like this very much." Spyro said.

"Maybe it's that first line. A doomed dragon." Cynder looked at Spyro.

"I swear, Cynder, I'll stop glowing and leave you here."

"You couldn't leave me, you'd miss me." Cynder smiled. "Alright I won't tease about this."

"At least until we get back to the surface." Spyro smiled.

The two dragons relinked and left the depths of Darkmire's tomb. Cynder kept swishing her hips.

Seeing Scara made her stop her sexy walk again, his terrible wounds almost looked worse now that she wasn't seeing them for the first time. He had sat heavily on the floor and was resting, but his eyes opened as he heard them approach.

"There's nothing there." The electric dragon said. "He just came back, and we don't know how. I don't know where he's going; I don't know where ether of them is going. We've got nothing."

"Malefor gave Dagger, Thoran that is, a message for us saying that he would wait for us in The Catacombs. Thoran is going to Warfang, looking for the Dragonslayer spear."

"That weapon is in Warfang? He was bad enough without that spear, but when he had it not even the other guardians could defeat him alone. I hope… I hope the guardians can stop him before he kills whoever has the Dragonslayer."

There was nothing the dragons could do but hope.

* * *

 **If you want to listen to Indiscriminate Murder is Counterproductive I suggest playing it now.**

Thoran walked the streets of Warfang again, it had been far too long, and he could barely remember the layout of the city. It had all changed; he supposed this whole war thing had been a good time for the moles to renovate the place, while clearing up the destroyed buildings and whatnot. Thoran liked the moles, they were nice, they were unthreatening and they had always been closely allied with dragonkind.

The dragon temple was new, it had never been in Warfang before, plus it was enormous now, rather impressive Thoran had to admit. It made a dramatic sort of line against the evening sky.

He'd only killed one dragon thus far, a fire dragoness who had been guarding the wall. He probably could have left her alive, but that wasn't his way. Imperia was up next, but he'd only need to kill the two dragons before he could slip away. Maybe one more after that, to celebrate regaining the Dragonslayer, he thought.

He wasn't here for a massacre, all of Warfang and everyone in it would be too much even for him and every moment he delayed meant another moment in which the remains of the unlucky carless guard could bring more cautious guards down on his head.

He walked confidently through the streets, nodding politely to those he passed, and a few even nodded back. Nobody knew his face any more; he'd been forgotten by Warfang. Perhaps if he was going to kill an extra dragon he would make it the new Electric guardian, whoever that was now. Possibly his former apprentice, the one who had had the nervous stutter, he'd shown some talent.

Thoran made straight for the northeast side of Warfang, where most of the dragons lived. Imperia would most likely be there. He spent ten minutes looking for a wind dragoness without success. He decided to ask someone.

Thoran wandered down one of the streets of Warfang, he wasn't watching where he was going and he bumped into a young earth dragoness with a white bandage on her waist. He apologised to her, but the slim dragoness didn't answer as she was deeply involved in an argument with an ice dragoness of the same age. Thoran caught the name Cynder mentioned several times and tuned in to the conversation with some interest.

He followed the two dragonesses down the street for about a minute, deciding which one he should kill. The earth dragoness sounded quite emotional about something, her friend kept trying to calm her down. Thoran decided to kill the earth dragoness, she'd be more likely to respond to a bit of interrogation judging by her distress.

Suddenly a pleasant smell distracted the electric dragon; he noticed a restaurant beside him and gave up on his original plan. He hadn't eaten decent food in months, and he hadn't eaten at all in four days. He was hungry.

He walked into the restaurant and noticed the pot of stew that had distracted him. How many pots of stew could say they had saved someone's life? Not many, Thoran was sure. Pots of stew didn't speak after all. He smiled slightly at the thought; he'd had a sense of humour once.

"Hello sir, can I get anything for you?" A mole walked up to Thoran, he was short even by mole standards. Thoran nodded, in a good mood.

"I don't have anything to pay with, I'm sorry, but if you could spare me anything at all I would be very appreciative."

It never hurt to be polite, but he was already trying to decide if he could kill this mole and eat the stew before anyone else wanted to have an early dinner. He'd probably have to blow on the stew to cool it down.

"That's not a problem at all sir, It's a pleasure to have such a well-mannered dragon in our establishment. I'll get you some stew."

"Thanks." Thoran said.

The stew was hot, and he did have to blow on it, but once it was cool enough he finished it off and licked the plate clean in moments. The mole noticed how quickly Thoran had eaten.

"Are you travelling somewhere? You seem very hungry. I can bring you another bowl if you would like one."

"Yes please." Thoran said, he wasn't used to polite interest and kind treatment from decent upstanding members of any race, but then again he had always liked the moles. "I am just stopping by in Warfang, I don't mean to stay for long."

"Again it's a pleasure to have you here." The mole said, bringing out another bowl of stew. He waddled back to the kitchen in the strange way that moles walked. "If you would like a third bowl don't hesitate to ask!"

Thoran finished his stew, he felt much happier with a full belly. He followed the mole into the kitchen, balancing the two plates. He put them in the sink and turned to the mole.

"There is something I would like to ask. Do you know a dragoness named Imperia?"

The mole nodded.

"A lovely dragoness, she is! As polite as you have been, and remarkably witty. I know Imperia, she's very memorable."

"Yes, she's an acquaintance of mine; I haven't seen her in years and would like to visit her while I'm here. Where does she live?"

"She's taken the highest rooms in the northern beacon tower. She had them renovated extensively I hear, she's very proud of how they look."

"The northeast beacon tower." Thoran repeated.

"That's right, a few minutes' walk, or you could fly there if you chose."

"Thanks again… and I am sorry about this."

"Sorry abo-"

"I can't help it you know." Thoran told the crushed remains of the nice mole. "It just happens really. Sometimes I enjoy it, actually I usually enjoy it. I may even feel sad about it this time though; you really were very kind to me, Mr Mole."

He glanced around, and then stuffed the corpse in a cupboard. He was feeling unhappy now. He turned and headed to the door; before he could leave another mole waddled through it and into the room. He looked very like the nice one, but a bit taller. Thoran didn't like that, it annoyed him.

"Excuse me, but are you-?"

Thoran fried him where he stood; the moles were so easily broken. He put this one in the cupboard next to the first mole and left the restaurant with a smile. Using lightning always cheered him up.

* * *

The beacon towers were extremely large, Thoran didn't really know what they were for, the moles had just built super big towers and put lights at the top of them, maybe so dragons knew where the city was if for some bizarre reason there were no other lights around. He didn't waste time trying to figure it out; he just flew to the base of the tower and took the spiral stairs.

He found the top room at the top of the stairs, pretty much where he had expected it to be, and the door wasn't locked so he let himself in.

The renovated rooms did look rather nice; they were relatively spacious and uncluttered. It was large enough to entertain a few dragons, but not too large for one to live alone. There was a carpet, a chandelier on the ceiling and a large section of the curving wall was only shutters leading out to what he assumed was a balcony. The wind dragoness was asleep on the bed, curled up in a neat circle. He looked at her for a few seconds; she was pretty, quite small by dragon standards, probably not much of a fighter, certainly not much of a threat.

The Dragonslayer was mounted on the far wall; it had clearly been lovingly cared for by its new owner. Thoran was grateful to Imperia for that; he'd give her a quick death.

He began to stalk across the room, but before he'd gotten halfway the dragoness rolled over onto her back, frowning in her sleep. Wind dragons were sensitive to movement in the air and had excellent hearing; Thoran didn't want to wake her if he didn't have to. He began to move again, staying low and focusing on the spear.

"That's far enough." Someone said, rather loudly.

Thoran scowled and turned around to find out who it was that had no appreciation for his stealth approach.

Another electric dragon stood in the door, he was quite young, but looked amusingly confident. Thoran recognised him immediately. This was his old student Volteer. He abandoned his stealth and stood tall, smiling at the newcomer.

"Just the dragon I was hoping to see. You're the new Guardian dragon aren't you? My poor half trained replacement, I was planning to kill you later. You wouldn't mind waiting a few minutes would you?"

"Unfortunately I would mind. Minutes are precious, you know in a single minute a dragon can…"

Thoran stopped listening to the chatter, clearly Volteer had grown out of his stuttering habits, and his eye flicked to the Dragonslayer, he could get hold of it before Volteer knew what was happening. He turned and darted for the spear, but it flew from its place just before he could grab it.

"That would be mine."

Thoran turned again, growing more and more annoyed by these constant disruptions, Get the spear, stab the bitch, leave. How hard did it have to be?

The bitch in question was now standing on her bed, balancing easily on her hind legs; the spear was levelled straight at his heart. Something about the steely look in her eyes told Thoran he had misjudged her fighting ability. Armed with the Dragonslayer even an average dragon suddenly became a credible threat, Imperia could be very dangerous indeed.

"I liked you better asleep." He said to her.

"Apparently I'm cute when I sleep." She said. "Anyway I must admit I find midnight visits deliciously scandalous but, to put this crudely, I don't do threesomes. Volteer?"

"Eh, um… It's not midnight?" The Guardian dragon said. His stutter returned when he was embarrassed.

"Very astute." Imperia smiled. The two electric dragons watched her, she tilted her head. "I'm not really a morning dragon. Are we meant to do something now?"

"It's not morning." Volteer added.

"Well what time is it?" Imperia asked.

"It's time for me to kill you two and get my spear back. I've had enough of this posturing, the pair of you are as bad as Spyro and Cynder were, but at least I'll get to murder you two personally."

"I don't usually enjoy violence, but I actually have been looking forward to this." Volteer smiled.

* * *

 **I'd like to just give special thanks to CanzetYote, for the most unusual review I have yet received. It was completely unexpected and caught me by surprise. However the main reason I like this review is because it made me realize one of the most amazing things about being an author.**

 **Secondary special thanks go to Buffbill, for the same reason, I think you have a very lucky girlfriend.**

 **Oh yeah, the amazing thing I realized about being an author. I suppose you'll want to hear it? It's hard to explain, but I'll do my best.**

 **Here goes.**

 **You have lives (well duh, that was obvious, but stick with me please). Everyone reading this story has their own life and experiences, not only that but you all have a unique way of perceiving this story, what one person reads effects them in a different way to another person, and you'll all be thinking different things as you read this story to what I think as I write it.**

 **I spent a while just thinking about that, and the more I did the more I liked it. I'm glad that you all have lives, and I'm indescribably grateful that you happen to spare time from them to read this story that I have created for you all.**

 **I really really want more thoughtful reviews, they need not be long (but I'd love it if they were!) but please please tell me what A Duel with Destiny means to you!**

 **This quote is ambiguous, it can be read one of two ways. Please tell me how you read it, or guess as to how I personally read it. Or just do both :)**

 **"Nothing is worse then death."**

 **-4Dragons**


	15. Better

**I have been looking forward to posting this so much.**

 **I was asked if I chose music for each moment or wrote the story to fit the music. The answer is no, I don't. I just get lucky in finding the right songs. I'd like to just thank John's Hourglass here for suggesting Indiscriminate Murder. The one scene where I had the music before the story was the end of chapter nine, where Spyro and Cynder sang Guide You Home together.**

 **I have a peice of music for Volteer for you, you don't have to play it anywhere, it's just for him in general.**

 **Delilah, by BigFlo**

 **A dramatic and stylish song by Korean band BigFlo, its pretty much entirely in Korean. I don't understand what they're singing about (even with translations =p ) but it still suits Volteer pretty well in my opinion.**

 **I do hope you've all been looking forwards to this chapter. I certainly have been.**

 **Story now!**

* * *

"Your extraordinary prowess and mastery of elemental lightning have immortalised you as the infamous and most powerful Electricity dragon in history." Volteer said with enthusiasm. "Naturally I have called the guards; you are surrounded, outnumbered and outmanoeuvred. Any escape is most implausible, even for a prodigious dragon like yourself. I have elected to battle you without aid to compare my skill against yours, to see if I've surpassed you. When you left me I was but the learner, but now I am the master."

"Nice quote." Imperia said approvingly.

"You think you're more powerful than I am? Good. I'm glad that absurd title has turned out to be useful." He looked at Imperia. "Don't run, when I'm done with your noble protector I'll rip that spear out of your paws and drive it through your skull."

"I'll wait." The wind dragoness purred.

Thoran turned back to Volteer, there was no doubt the new electricity guardian would be one of the most skilled dragons in Warfang, but he'd only had thirty years of apprenticeship, not the usual fifty. Not even his natural talent could have brought him to Thoran's level.

"We'll call this your final lesson." He told the younger dragon.

Lightning surged through Thoran's body; he took a second to focus it and then blasted a crackling stream of power from his jaws. Volteer leapt back and took shelter behind the doorway. Thoran cut off the beam and charged up his favourite technique. Volteer stepped back into the room in time to see Thoran hurtling straight at him. He yelped in surprise and leapt back through the doorway. Thoran ignored the wall and aimed at where he calculated Volteer would be, his thunderlance punched through the stone of the wall with ease and he slammed into Volteer. Despite the impact sending him reeling the younger dragon showed surprising skill in diverting Thoran's lightning, but Thoran didn't care, he surged up and smashed his paws into Volteer's face, instantly sweeping back to rip his eyes out. Volteer ducked under the second strike and stamped on Thoran's rear paw before deftly stepping around him and smacking him in the side with his tail.

Thoran coiled around to pursue his opponent. His jaws clamped shut, missing Volteer's tail by inches. His own tail blade was much thicker and more deadly than Volteer's and he lashed out with it, growling in satisfaction when he hit his target.

Volteer hadn't been hurt, his hard scales had deflected the attack, but he was more cautious now. He hadn't expected such a savage assault from Thoran. He retreated back into Imperia's room, the wind dragoness was watching from the bed. She moved forwards as if to help, but Volteer shook his head. He wanted to do this alone.

Thoran stalked back into the room, Volteer unleashed a torrent of sparks at him, while the sparks were not as dangerous as typical lightning they were harder to defend against. The pain jabbed at Thoran and he put his wing up to protect his head, it felt like he was being poked with hot needles. Thoran roared in anger and swept his wings, creating a surge of electricity that swamped Volteer's sparks. He spun the power Volteer had left in the air into a massive lightning bolt and hurled it at the electricity guardian, hitting him dead on.

Volteer didn't fall.

His eyes snapped open and they glowed with power.

"You won't beat me that way." He said, and then he slammed his paw onto the ground and sent lighting surging through it.

Thoran leapt into the air to evade the lightning, Volteer got there ahead of him, grabbing him from behind and slamming him into the floor. Thoran howled in anger and pain, Volteer slammed him again. He was breaking the floor from the force of the impact.

Thoran's bones were tough, but the stone floor was just as strong, it was bad to be slammed against it. He reversed Volteer's hold and began to grapple with the dragon at close range.

Volteer had much less skill at melee attacks, he had become skilled in the standard dragon style but always preferred air or elemental combat to brawling. Thoran, however, used the lethal style of the Old Fire dragons, which suited him perfectly. When Thoran latched on and began to hit Volteer again and again the physically weaker didn't cope very well at all. He panicked and Thoran growled in victory, recognising that he had found Volteer's weakness.

Thoran torqued his body, dragging Volteer off balance before going for a killing blow to the younger dragon's throat. Volteer seized the carpet and used it as a shield, tangling Thoran's claws. The murderous dragon roared in anger again and ripped clear. Volteer scrambled out of his way and the fight paused for a moment.

"You're better than I am in lightning manipulation." Thoran said coldly. "Well done for that. But I'm the stronger dragon by far. Lie down and I'll kill you quickly. Keep fighting and I'll rip you into bloody pieces."

"I don't think you've seen how good I really am, yet." Volteer said. He began to glow all over, charging a thunderlance. Thoran grinned at him.

"How cute, my favourite technique. Come and get me, Volteer." He reared up and welcomed the attack.

Volteer didn't charge at him though, instead he flickered and turned into two Volteers.

Thoran stared, both Volteers glowed, both looked perfectly real.

"Impossible. You can't have learnt my Lightning illusion technique." Thoran said in shock. "That's mine. I'm the only one who knows it!"

"You _were_ the only one who knew it. But you said it yourself, I have more skill then you do. It took me six years to work this out, but it was time well spent." The two Volteer's began to circle Thoran.

Only one was solid, but there was no way to tell which one, and the illusory one made of electricity could still be dangerous if it made contact with him.

"I'll kill you!" Thoran roared. "That's my technique and I'll kill you for knowing it!"

"You'll have to go and kill the library too." The two Volteers said with identical smiles. "I write everything down. Accurate documentation is essential for the scientif-"

Thoran curled up into a ball and used a lightning sphere to incinerate everything in the room.

His massive surge of power disrupted and destroyed the copy instantly, wrecked the floor, scarred the walls and battered the roof and would have taken both of the other dragons out of the fight in seconds.

When the lightning cleared Thoran returned to the ground, panting. He'd expended more energy on these two then he had wanted to.

Volteer was still standing, completely untouched. Thoran looked at him silently for a second.

"You truly are worthy of being the electricity guardian." He said reluctantly. He glanced around for Imperia. She too was untouched, the lightning he had sent in her direction now radiated from the Dragonslayer. She twirled it deftly between her paws.

"I can see why you like this thing." She smiled.

Thoran growled at her.

"This has gone far enough." He said. He half turned towards Imperia, then lunged for Volteer, taking him off guard. He whipped the carpet he had grabbed hold of over Volteer's head and lashed a powerful kick into his face.

He was faced with a choice now, finish Volteer off and risk Imperia joining the fight. Or go for the Dragonslayer while Volteer was blinded. He chose the Dragonslayer and charged at Imperia.

The wind dragoness skipped back with a laugh, Thoran lunged again and she danced out of his way, making distance between them with a graceful somersault. He hated wind dragons; they were always so damn hard to get hold of.

Suddenly he realised that in her acrobatics Imperia had backed herself up against the wall. He lunged again, wings spread to cut off her escape. She went upwards; running straight up the wall and then, mocking both him and gravity, used her magic to continue to run across the ceiling.

Thoran beat his wings and twisted after her, determined not to let her escape. The Dragonslayer flicked out, but not at him. Instead she used the spear to cut the chain on the chandelier. Thoran jerked out of the way and the chandelier fell. It hit the ground right beside him with an awesome crash. Glass flew everywhere and he snarled at the dragoness standing on the roof directly above him.

Imperia pointed the Dragonslayer straight at his head and pushed off, accelerating instantly to an extreme speed. Thoran writhed out of the way of that lethal blade, but was unable to fully evade Imperia's attack. She hit him with her full weight and force; the floor gave way beneath them sending the two of them down to the next level of the tower. Imperia leapt off Thoran and flipped up to the new ceiling instantly, not giving the battered dragon any time to get a grip on her. Then she repeated the attack, smashing him straight through the floor again. These levels of the tower were unoccupied, and the room they landed in was entirely bare.

She went to do it again; she could have wrecked the whole tower and not gotten a scratch. Thoran quickly surrounded himself with lightning armour, the perfect method for protecting himself from most melee attacks.

Imperia couldn't touch him, but the Dragonslayer still could. The air hummed as the spear flicked out and before he knew what was happening Thoran was bleeding from a deep cut on his chest. He went to catch the spears cross guard but only got a second slash on his paws. She whipped the spear around in an arc and Thoran ducked under it, then she jabbed out again before he could recover and Thoran backed away. This was bad.

"That chandelier was insanely expensive you know. You could have at least had the courtesy to be hit by it."

Volteer joined them from the hole in the ceiling, looking a bit worse for wear. He looked at the situation, Thoran cut and bleeding. Imperia smiling gently, not even out of breath and casually aiming the Dragonslayer at her opponent. "Oh, and my earlier comment about not doing threesomes, I was lying. This is _fun_!"

"Remind me never to make you enraged, infuriated, aggressive or murderous." Volteer said.

"Volteer, don't forget to never enrage me." Imperia said immediately.

"I knew you would say that."

"Aw, you know me too well. There's nothing wrong with aggressiveness though, depending on the inten-"

"Will you two SHUT UP!" Thoran roared.

This was the most annoying fight he'd ever had. Both dragons were practically immune to his lightning, Imperia was almost impossible to close in with, Volteer had proven far more trouble than he was worth. It was like fighting Terrador all over again. How could he kill them?

Simple, change the playing field. Thoran circled the room. Volteer advanced while Imperia hung back. They were getting confident that they could defeat him. That was fine, he'd let them think that. Just like in Darkmire's tomb he had to use the environment to his advantage.

Thoran reached the door as he circled the pair and smashed it open, stepping through and retreating several meters down the spiral stairs.

The stairs were perfect for Thoran's grappling fighting style. Barely wide enough for two dragons so he could fight them one at a time, the celling was too low for Imperia to do the flips and leaps so beloved by wind dragons. The stone was good and strong, stronger than the floor and ceilings of the tower rooms. The moles had taken special care with the stairway.

Volteer came first, charging down the stairway at him. Volteer filled the air with lightning; large attacks could be countered by another skilled electric dragon, so Volteer returned to using his torrent of sparks against Thoran. Thoran gritted his teeth against the pain, then lunged forwards and caught Volteer by his horn. He allowed a savage grin to form on his face; he locked his paw around Volteers long horn as tightly as he could.

Volteer realized his mistake and tried to pull away, Thoran yanked him forwards. Volteer tried to tug back so Thoran smashed his head into the wall.

He felt Volteer stagger slightly; his resistance was weakened, and seized the advantage.

Imperia tried to get around Volteer, so Thoran threw him into her way, knocking her back. Volteer started to create lightning, so Thoran cracked his skull off the wall again, and then he did it a third time and a fourth, until blood ran from his head and Volteer no longer created lightning.

"Volteer!" Imperia shrieked. The fear in her voice was music to his ears. She tried to jab Thoran from around Volteer but he ducked behind the dazed dragon and backed down the stairs.

He was laughing now; he could do this all day. He threw aside Volteer and went for Imperia; she held the Dragonslayer out of his reach so he didn't bother with it and just went for her instead. He slashed at her side and she yipped in pain. He chased her several meters up the staircase, laughing all the while. Imperia tried to jump over him but the space was too small and he finally caught hold of her and filled her body with lightning.

The dragoness screamed in pain and he laughed until she rammed the Dragonslayer straight into his belly. Thoran roared as white hot agony shot through his chest. He hurled Imperia down the stairs; she landed crumpled but rapidly rose to her feet again and pointed the spear at him. Volteer groaned and tried to get up, Imperia's weapon wavered as she rushed to his side.

"Volteer are you alright?" She asked urgently.

"Are you afraid yet?" Thoran asked, prowling slowly down the stairs towards her. Volteer staggered to his feet and Imperia half dragged him down the stairs. Thoran pursued them, watching them flee before him as they should have done from the start. "I won't even kill you." He smiled, stalking faster. "Give me the spear and I'll let you both live. I'll be taking it either way. Just give it to me."

"No." Imperia said coldly.

She went to move past Volteer, aiming the spear for Thoran, and he lunged at the two of them. Volteer leapt in front of Imperia and Thoran sent him staggering, before he could follow up his attack, however, Volteer flashed blindingly and made an explosive thunderclap sound. Thoran was caught off guard by the flash and bang, blinded and deafened he could only feel Volteer go for a strangling hold on him. Volteer put his paw into the cut Imperia had left on his belly and clawed at the wound, Thoran howled at the pain. He butted his head forward until his nose hit the other dragon. Not knowing or caring what part of Volteer he had found he sank his teeth into the dragon and tore a bloody chunk of his flesh out.

Volteer screamed, Thoran blinked his eyes into focus and saw that he had ripped a wide gash in Volteer's side. He growled in satisfaction and went for his throat. Volteer jerked backwards and Thoran's jaws crunched over empty air. He kicked Volteer in the chest hard and he fell onto Imperia and the two dragons went tumbling down the stairs.

He followed them down, laughing maniacally. This was _fun_ , the pain meant nothing, he was sure Volteer was having a much worse time, and this was only the beginning of what he was going to do to Imperia.

He reached the bottom of the stairs, his two opponents were tangled on the floor below him, and the room contained six guard dragons.

This just wasn't his day, was it?

Imperia got to her feet, still pointing the spear. She wasn't hurt, yet. But she was beginning to actually look angry now, no longer amused. Volteer didn't rise nearly as quickly.

"I hope you've had some sense knocked into you. Volteer really, what were you thinking?"

Thoran recognised that voice. He looked across the room as Cyril walked in. The odds were really against him now. It was nine against one. No matter, the dragon with the skill to counter his lightning was down for the moment, he'd fry the others before they could touch him.

"We have the city guard for a good reason, you know. We aren't meant to go gallivanting off after dangerous enemies on our own. I suppose you've done a respectable job, the two of you aren't dead and you even managed to keep that Spear out of his hands."

"It's nice to see you again too, old friend." Thoran said, walking down the stairs, pleased at the way the guards all backed away from him. He must look intimidating, covered in his blood and Volteer's. He spat some of the latter's blood out of his mouth and grinned at the assembled dragons.

"You shouldn't have come back. Darkmire's tomb wasn't enough to keep you out of the way; we'll do better this time." Cyril said.

"There is nowhere better. I escaped the worst place Dragonkind knows of, and I butchered all the guards there. Just like I'll do here." He looked around the group of dragons, daring someone to face him. Credit where it was due Cyril didn't hesitate in walking into the circle they had created.

"Are you alright Volteer? Maybe you've learned that words aren't always the answer."

"Violence is the response of the inarticulate." Volteer replied, staggering to his feet.

"Whatever you say. Can you fight?"

"I'll fight." Volteer said.

"It took three of the guardians together last time." Thoran said. "Are you still sore from the beating I gave you Cyril? Your pride at least must be, you never did like losing to me in training."

Cyril shrugged, and then he fired ice spikes.

Thoran dodged the first two spikes and deflected the third with his wings. The guards closed in and Thoran ducked behind them to cover himself from Cyril's attacks. Cyril could really mess him up if he didn't deal with him. The first guard was a fire dragon. Thoran shocked him and then slashed him with his tail blade. The next was a fire dragon too; he launched a fireball which Thoran dodged. He responded with a lightning bolt that sent the dragon stumbling, and then he grabbed him by the throat and threw him into the others.

He charged up lightning and chained it through three of the dragons at once. These dragons were nowhere near his level in skill. Cyril, Imperia and Volteer were the primary threats.

He made a bigger lightning strike that would be intense enough to kill and blasted it at the closest dragon. The attack didn't hit, Volteer had joined the fight and absorbed the attack.

Suddenly he felt sharp pain on his tail, he looked around to find an earth dragon had bitten the end of it. He sent electricity down his tail, aiming to burn the dragon off him, but he bit down even harder and with jerk he bit the end of Thoran's tail right off.

His tail blade, along with almost a foot of his tail was gone.

All other enemies forgotten Thoran focused on the dragon that had done this to him. He unfurled his wings and sent a surge of power through them to keep the others back before bearing down on the earth dragon.

"You will pay for that!" He roared, and he ripped at the dragon's face. The dragon stabbed him in the leg with his tail blade; Thoran bit down on his head and charged his fangs with lightning.

Something went crack.

Thoran swept his wings out at the others, leaving the earth dragon on the ground.

"I'll kill every last one of you!"

A spike of ice caught him in the side; Cyril readied another, looking annoyed, but still in command of the situation. Thoran tucked his wings and dodged to the side, and then his eyes focused on Imperia and the Dragonslayer.

He went for her, determined to get the spear no matter who stood in his way. He burned the two guards who were between him and her with his lightning and sent a lightning bolt straight at her. Imperia used the Dragonslayer to defend herself but before she even needed it a wall of earth was raised in front of her. The lightning dissipated in the earth and the fight froze as a new dragon entered the room.

Terrador.

The earth Guardian looked calm and powerful. Thoran watched him warily. The balance of power had shifted far out of his favour now. With Terrador now present he was outmatched and he knew it.

If Ignitus had been here too it would have been a reunion of the old guardians, but the old leader of the guardians was dead now. Thoran licked his lips nervously, deciding what to do next.

"Last chance. Give me the spear and I'll go peacefully." Thoran said. He was bluffing, continuing this fight now was suicide, he might take down a few of the dragons but he didn't have a chance of winning.

"It isn't yours to take." Terrador said in his deep voice.

"It was mine!"

"No longer." Terrador replied.

"Fine." Thoran grated. He crouched and took off, Cyril created a storm of ice to try to catch him but Thoran outpaced it, shattering the high window and disappearing into the night sky.

"He'll be back." Cyril said. "Until he gets the Spear or we get him."

"I'll be back." Imperia said.

"What?" Volteer stared at her.

"I can catch him." She said. She spread her wings, gave the Dragonslayer a twirl and then flew in pursuit of Thoran.

He knew that he would be followed; they wouldn't let him get away so easily he was sure. He was on guard for an attack, but nothing happened. There was low cloud, perhaps they had lost him. He flew lower over the city, looping over the colosseum before making for the forests where he could take shelter.

He saw her in the distance; she made no effort to hide herself. He watched her fly directly upwards until she was almost hidden by the clouds. He thought she was gaining height to call down a storm. Then she turned and began to fall.

For a moment she fell gracefully, slowly, and then she began to accelerate. Thoran watched her fly faster and faster, until her trajectory changed and she arced around and was flying directly for him.

She'd cover the distance between then in seconds, she was moving at unbelievable speed. Thoran created lightning armour, but as soon as he saw the shining tip of the Dragonslayer he knew it wouldn't save him.

He'd dive out of her way at the last moment; surely she couldn't turn at that speed. Thoran waited in mid-air for her to get close enough, but he had underestimated her speed and she was on him before he could even try to dodge.

Three things were all he had time to process. The first was Imperia striking him, the Dragonslayer cut through his scales like they were paper.

Then he was alone, moving so fast the world was a blur and all he could recognise was the sand of the Colosseum rushing straight for him.

Thirdly was the impact.

He wasn't dead. There was too much pain for that. He focused on breathing, glad he was still capable of doing it. His eyes opened, he blinked blood out of his vision and he watched the wind dragoness float down to him from above.

Imperia twirled the Dragonslayer, then flicked it from one paw to the other and flourished it as she touched down.

"I've never done that to a living target before. Honestly I rather expected it to kill you." She said lazily.

Thoran put his left paw under him and tried to rise, his right paw wasn't responding to his thoughts. He managed to make it slightly off the ground, but then he collapsed again. Pain surged through him.

"You hit the ground at over one thousand kilometres per hour. I gave you all of my momentum as we hit. Do you know how much force that is? You've made a crater, it's a miracle you didn't make a big red smear. Dragons truly are amazingly tough creatures. At least I aimed you somewhere we couldn't cause too much damage." Imperia glanced around the colosseum. "This is a nice place."

Thoran tried again to get up. Imperia watched him with quiet admiration. He was certainly tenacious.

"Spearing you was just an extra precaution." Imperia smiled.

Thoran checked the damage. Several of his ribs were cracked, his wounds from earlier had split further and he was bleeding heavily. His right leg was clearly broken, one of his rear legs too. He was almost certainly suffering internal bleeding; also he'd bitten his tongue. The spear had gone in right at the base of his left wing, severing muscle and cutting bone. He wouldn't be flying away from here. With all his strength he managed to stand.

"You win." He said softly. "You should kill me now."

"I'm going to. Do you want to know why?"

"Not really."

"Well I'm going to tell you anyway. You gave me this spear in a way. Do you recall how you lost it?"

"No."

"You left it in the heart of a wind dragon when you were captured at the old Dragon Temple. Do you remember now?"

"No. I can't recall everyone I've ever killed. Did I kill your daddy or your mummy? I don't care!" Thoran snarled at her and spat out blood. "You talk too much. Just take your little revenge if you think it'll make you feel better."

"The revenge is just a bonus. I'm going to put you down, and I won't lose any sleep over doing so because you're a monster. And by killing you I'll make this world a better place. That's all I've ever tried to do."

Thoran grunted. Imperia began to walk down the gentle slope of Thoran's impact crater towards him, once she was close enough he lunged at her, swatting the spear aside and trying to bite down on her head. She ducked under the attack and slammed the heavy side of the Dragonslayer into Thoran's broken ribs.

He fell to the ground, choking on nothing. Imperia stepped on his side and pressed the Dragonslayer against his chest.

"There's no shame in dying like this. You put up an amazing fight." She smiled gently. "Oh and if in the next world you are asked who it was that finally killed you, tell them it was Imperia, the first Wind Guardian of Warfang."

"There is no wind guardian." Thoran hissed.

"I beg to differ."

Imperia sighed, gave Thoran a sad smile, and then she put her clawed foot against the crossguard of the Dragonslayer and stamped down.

* * *

 **Please don't give any spoilers, I've worked hard for this moment.  
Actually I'm being hypocritical. In an earlier chapter I already told you exactly how this fight was going to end (Read back if you want, check chapter 11!) I'm curious to know, who spotted it?**

 **Did you see Thoran's death coming?**

 **"Make your own luck."**

 **-4Dragons**


	16. Love and War

**I have two songs for you, one for the first part of this chapter: Miracle, by Shinedown. Miracle is one of the nicest love songs I've ever heard and I feel it suits the first part of this chapter perfectly. I'm actually listening to it as I write this note, Oh I love this song so much.**

 **Second song: Snow Fairy, The English cover version sung by NateWantstoBattle.**

* * *

There had been little debate about what they had to do next. Spyro and Cynder knew full well they had to go to The Catacombs, Malefor was too potent to ignore; they both would have preferred to go back to Warfang but knew that they couldn't.

Nestoc had barely spoken since he had seen the dead dragoness, but as Spyro and Cynder were talking about it he unexpectedly offered to go to Warfang instead. Even though they knew he probably wouldn't make much difference Spyro and Cynder felt better that someone was going.

Scara had to wait in Darkmire's tomb; he couldn't fly and would have been killed by the temperatures if he'd tried to travel over land. Nestoc promised to return with whatever help he could get as soon as he could.

The three dragons travelled together for most of the day, until they had left the mountains behind them, then they parted ways. The Catacombs were to the far south of Warfang; Cynder estimated they were about two more days' flight away.

* * *

"We've been flying a lot lately." Spyro said. "It seems like everywhere is two days flight away."

"I enjoy flying." Cynder said.

"I know, so do I. It's just the travelling that gets a bit boring. Having to go somewhere, and get there quickly. Now we're flying almost back the way we came to go to the Waterfall cave, because coming up here was pretty much pointless."

"We don't _have_ to go to Waterfall cave. We could go to Warfang instead, just to show Malefor."

"We don't have to go to Warfang either." Spyro said.

"What?" Cynder looked at him curiously.

"You never wanted to go back. In hindsight I think you were right, we should have stayed away."

Cynder was surprised that Spyro would say that.

"It was the right thing to do at the time. Spyro I couldn't have asked you to cho-" Cynder broke off, not wanting to finish her sentence.

She didn't want Spyro to need to choose between her and Warfang for two reasons. The first reason was that she knew it would hurt him no matter which option he chose, either because he would hurt Cynder or because he would be fighting against an essential part of his nature, his desire to help others.

The other reason was that she was terrified of what his answer would be.

"I know what you were going to say." Spyro said. Cynder couldn't look at him. "I've already made my choice; I made it when you came back to Warfang for me."

"Please don't." Cynder said. "If you don't choose then maybe you won't have to."

"Okay, I didn't go after you when you left Warfang because I didn't make a choice, and I swear that won't happen again."

"There's no point looking back at that now. We're together again, and we can do whatever we want to do."

Spyro flew silently for a while before speaking again.

"It's sort of ironic, isn't it? We're back in exactly the same position as we were before we went to Warfang again. We even have the chain on again." He smiled. "It's like fate has reset us back to where we once were."

"I think we're better now than we were before." Cynder said.

"We do have sex now." Spyro noted.

There was a moment of incredulous silence.

"Did I say that out loud?" He looked at Cynder, her expression told him he most certainly had. He made an admirable attempt to fix the situation, which of course only embarrassed him more.

"That is… it's only one of the things we… it's not. I don't. There are better things then, well, not better… you're amazing, Cynder and I… just…" He looked at her helplessly. "I'll shut up now." He finished.

Cynder looked at him until Spyro began to squirm, then she responded.

"I don't love you for your tact. You're completely hopeless Spyro. You see a crystal and your first thought is to beat it up. You find a door; you go to head-butt it. A magical chain? Let's try twisting it. You open your mouth, you insert your foot."

She laughed, showing she was teasing.

"I think I know now why Sparx is a good influence on you. When he's around you can't just say everything that pops into your head because he'd tease you mercilessly for it. Sparx encourages you to filter yourself."

"I'm sorry I said that, it just sort of slipped out."

Cynder flew around for a mid-air kiss with Spyro, using her wind magic to continue flying despite being in an unnatural position. They stayed that way for a moment. Cynder enjoyed the kiss, and then she flipped over to fly beside Spyro again.

"I don't mind."

* * *

The two dragons stopped in a clearing. A small stream ran through it and they drank from it. Cynder spread her wings and basked in the sun, glad to feel the soft grass against her underbody and pleased to be out of the cold. It was very pleasant lying there.

Spyro started doing some sort of dance looking thing. For a moment Cynder thought he was pretending to be Flare, the strange fire guardian moved in a similar sort of manner, but then she recognised the Way of Balance, a series of movements dragons used to train themselves in balance, hence the name.

Cynder had learnt the version Spyro was doing ages ago, and Imperia had stepped up her teaching to adjust for Cynder's wind magic until the series of movements she had come to call the Way of Balance was almost unrecognisable from the original form that Spyro was doing.

He was good at it, amazingly good at it, but Cynder noticed that Spyro would always make his movements too quickly and powerfully, meaning he needed to adjust his stances before he moved to the next sequence.

"It's not direct combat training." Cynder advised him. "You don't need to make the moves into strikes, there shouldn't be force involved."

"That's true in basic training, but Terrador doesn't agree with that. He feels that even though its balance training you shouldn't neglect the power you would need in combat. Grace and power are both important."

"You're forcing yourself to adjust your stances. You lose the flowing nature of the moves."

"You should see Terrador do Way of Balance, he's truly a master fighter. I know that it's possible to do it perfectly and with power. I'm going to be one of the dragons who can do that too."

"Melee combat isn't really your strongest area, is it?" Cynder asked. Spyro was far from bad, but he didn't have the size or sheer strength of a dragon like Terrador or Magmar.

"Honestly no, I'm stronger with elemental attacks, but I need to practice my melee combat. What about you? What are you best at Cynder?"

Cynder shrugged lazily, then got up and shook herself.

"I don't know. I'm fast, I prefer to fight aggressively and I'm capable of taking down most enemies quickly and easily."

"Close combat or longer range?"

"Any range." Cynder said.

"Really?"

"Oh yes."

"Stop being a mystery." Spyro said with a playful scowl. He forgot about his training and focused on Cynder.

"Am I being a mystery?"

"Yes. I know barely anything about your fighting style or your elemental attacks. I know you're strong, but I have no idea which of us would win in a sparring match. You are a complete mystery."

"I like being a mystery. Do you really want to know which of us would win in a fight? Because there's one really good way to find out." Cynder smiled invitingly at Spyro.

"I've wanted to know for a while now. Focus on melee combat, choose one element only. Also I'll try to go easy on you, but no promises." Spyro grinned.

"Bring it!" Cynder laughed.

* * *

The couple faced off against each other. Spyro took to the edge of the clearing, Cynder stayed in the middle, waiting for him to make the first move.

Spyro had chosen earth, Cynder had chosen wind. She stood easily, not even in a defensive position, extruding an aura of complete confidence.

Spyro circled her until Cynder had to look directly into the sun, then he charged.

The challenge in fighting a wind dragon, Spyro knew, was getting into your chosen range and staying there. Wind dragons had an annoying habit of flipping and dodging attacks, controlling the battlefield by always being in the right place at the right time, he would need to restrict Cynder's movements until he could trap her. He was so focused on this plan that he completely expected Cynder to skip out of the way of his charge.

Cynder held her ground, lowered her shoulder towards Spyro's chest and pushed off, accelerating towards him. She struck with astonishing force, as if she'd done the charging and not Spyro. He was staggered by the impact but recovered quickly. Cynder didn't back off, from right in front of him she accelerated again, slamming her body into Spyro and staggering him for a second time. She put her paws up against Spyro's chest and kicked off, but somehow she didn't move anywhere but instead sent him sprawling.

Cynder grinned, she wasn't as good at manipulating motion as Imperia was, but she was easily good enough to throw Spyro around. She dove for him as Spyro attempted to get to his feet.

Before Spyro could adjust to this level of fighting Cynder had crossed the distance between them and pressed her tail blade to Spyro's throat.

"Cynder one. Spyro zero."

* * *

"I was going easy on you!"

"You went nothing on me." Cynder laughed. "Melee certainly isn't your strength."

"I was caught off guard. I underestimated you."

"Excuses, excuses. Put money where your mouth is. Oh, and don't underestimate me again."

"Fine I won't. Let's go best of three."

"We could go best of sixty with time to spare at this rate." Cynder said smugly. Spyro glared at her, but he still couldn't stop smiling.

"Bring it on."

* * *

Cynder went on the offensive, flying straight for Spyro. He put his wings up to guard against her attack, Cynder spun over him to land behind him and seized hold of his unprotected tail.

Spyro half turned and Cynder leapt onto his back, grabbed his horn in her other paw and, unfurling her wings, sent the both of them flying with a huge downstroke.

Spyro spread his wings to their full extent for balance and arched his back to try to force Cynder to release her grip. Cynder let him have his horn back so she could grab his tail harder, and then she used her weight and a powerful gust of wind to swing Spyro by his tail straight into the ground. Spyro was up again instantly, he'd barely noticed the impact, yanking his tail out of Cynder's grip then lashing it back at her.

She used her wings to block the tail strike; they still weren't using enough power to affect each other.

"Fight harder!" She called, and then she flipped up and smashed into Spyro from above to demonstrate what she meant. Surprisingly Spyro wasn't knocked to the ground, he reared up, whipping his wings together and striking up with his tail, catching Cynder right on the backside. She huffed in annoyance and wrapped herself around Spyro's chest, then used the wind to knock the both of them onto their backs.

Spyro landed heavily on top of her, but Cynder coiled her tail around his waist and then gently kissed Spyro on his exposed throat.

"Two, zero." She said immediately.

Spyro rolled off her and Cynder got to her feet.

"Do you have an excuse as to why you lost this time?" She teased.

"No. But I want to go one more round." Spyro said. Cynder smiled.

"I'll enjoy that I'm sure."

"If you enjoy getting beaten up." Spyro shot back at her.

"Well, you are the only male my age that's even come close to managing that. Maybe that's why I like you so much."

"You had to make it weird, didn't you?"

"Says mister 'It just slipped out'" Cynder replied.

* * *

This time Spyro was on guard, he used his earth element right from the beginning. He used a simple and easy technique which increased his weight and lowered his centre of gravity. Doing this was an essential part of maintaining an earth boulder, but Spyro didn't worry about creating a full boulder, yet.

Cynder found Spyro to be a much tougher target this time. Her first charge was met with a completely different defence to the previous one. Spyro kept his wings well spread and put his weight evenly on all four of his legs, rather than concentrating it on his rear two where Cynder could unbalance him. This left Cynder with no unprotected angle to launch a surprise attack from, but weakened Spyro's defence on all sides slightly.

She went for brute force, aiming to knock Spyro's wing out of the way and close in to get her hold on Spyro's throat. She was almost onto Spyro when he leapt to the side and took up his position again. Cynder shot past him, instantly spinning to face him and smiled, floating in the air.

"Scared?"

"You wish."

Cynder came in slower this time, ready for Spyro to try to evade her again, but this was exactly what the purple dragon had wanted. As Cynder got close enough it was Spyro who went on the attack, he slammed his paw into the earth and raised earthen walls on three sides of himself and Cynder, cutting off much of her manoeuvrability.

Cynder immediately looked up, but Spyro leapt into the air to stop her from escaping that way. Cynder instantly realised Spyro had made a mistake she could take advantage of. She filled his wings with wind, sending him flying higher, straight up into the air, and then she surged upwards and kicked him in the belly. Spyro folded slightly and grunted at the impact. Cynder pushed, knocking Spyro further into the air.

Spyro was about to make an earth boulder when Cynder suddenly circled from below him to above him and kicked him from behind, much, much harder.

Cynder sent the two of them hurtling toward the ground, at the last moment she stopped herself and watched Spyro slam into the dirt.

Only he didn't.

Spyro landed easily and looked back up at Cynder with a grin.

"That was impressive, but I'm afraid you messed with the wrong element." He said.

"Oh did I?"

Cynder flew forwards to fight Spyro at close range, she struck at his left side, but with a twitch of his wing he deflected the blow. Cynder growled in annoyance and spun around Spyro in a tight arc to find an unguarded angle. His wings moved with her, never giving her an opening.

Cynder caught hold of the edge of one of Spyro's wings and yanked it aside. She landed on Spyro's back and lashed out at his side. Spyro twisted around to get her, if he could get hold of Cynder he could use his physical strength to win, Cynder had other ideas, sliding herself around to Spyro's belly and kicking him hard in the stomach. She once again used her acceleration to shoot the two of them across the clearing and slam Spyro into a tree.

It was quite a large tree, but the impact shook the entire thing. Spyro grunted, Cynder hissed in satisfaction. Clearly whatever Spyro had done to counter her vertical drop didn't work for trees.

She paused for a moment too long and Spyro caught hold of her wing. Before she could shake him off Spyro had also grabbed her around the waist, he spun the two of them and then crushed her body against the tree. Cynder yelped in surprise, then Spyro drove his shoulder into her throat and she choked. He crushed her onto the ground; this wasn't a good position for her. Cynder had to take this fight back to her own terms. She swept her tail, knocking Spyro's legs out from under him and bringing him down beside her. She skipped over him to get clear, but Spyro caught her with a powerful uppercut as she moved.

Cynder yelped again and fell to the ground. Spyro scrambled up, shocked.

"Cynder I'm sorry!" He exclaimed, moving over to find out if she was alright.

Cynder responded with a devastating surprise punch, knocking Spyro off his feet again. She laughed, and then stopped. Spyro didn't spring back to his feet like she would have expected.

"Spyro? Are you-?" She moved closer, and then he hit her in exactly the same way she'd just gotten him.

Right on the nose. Very hard.

"Ow!" Cynder yelled. "You're really asking for it now!"

"Glad to make an impression!" Spyro responded.

The two dragons scaled up their power to match each other. Cynder moved first, using her wind to slam Spyro against the tree, before immediately whirling around to the other side of the tree and bringing the whole thing down on top of Spyro with a spectacular crash.

* * *

Cynder landed beside the trapped purple dragon with a smile. The tree would easily weigh four tonnes, not enough to crush Spyro, but definitely enough to keep him down.

"Three to me." Cynder said smugly.

"Not yet." Spyro responded, and he sank into the ground and disappeared. Cynder sensed he was coming for her; she leapt into the air as the earth below her erupted. Spyro vanished instantly back below the ground, Cynder hovered a safe distance above.

There was a standoff for several seconds as Cynder considered her next move. This was a new trick from Spyro and it was extremely annoying. At the moment neither dragon had the upper hand, but if Cynder touched down then Spyro would certainly sense her moving around on the ground. She sighed; she needed to get Spyro back aboveground where they were more evenly matched.

"I'm bored." She sang. There was no response. She flew lower to make sure Spyro could hear her teasing him.

"Did you hear me, purple boy? I said I'm bored! Isn't this the part where you beat me up? When do we get to that part?"

"As soon as you come down here and fight me."

Cynder looked around; Spyro was sitting beside the tree she had knocked over, looking like he'd been sitting there all along. She was pretty sure he hadn't been.

Cynder set her wings and floated down to the ground. They began to circle each other, Cynder darted forwards playfully but Spyro didn't flinch. Spyro did the same, Cynder did flinch, but she also laughed.

"This feels like the start of a dance." Spyro said.

"Then let's dance."

Both dragons rushed forward, Spyro tried to grab Cynder and she jumped up and flipped over him, he'd left his wings down and wasn't protected. She aimed for his back, but Spyro had predicted her move, she'd used it before and gotten away with it.

Not this time.

Spyro spun even as Cynder moved, she stopped instantly, but she was too close.

"Gotcha!"

Spyro bit down on Cynder's left paw. He was very careful not to harm her, but his grip was tight and Cynder was caught.

She hissed in annoyance, instinctively her tail blade struck out for Spyro's underside, she stopped the strike before she could do serious damage to Spyro, they were only training after all and she didn't want to hurt him, but she did cut him and he began to bleed.

Spyro had predicted that counterattack too; Spyro had seen Cynder do a very similar thing to Flora when the earth dragoness had tried to bite her. He shrugged off the pain, which didn't bother him very much, and caught Cynder's tail with one of his rear legs, holding that tightly too.

Cynder realised she had made a serious mistake; Spyro used his grip to open Cynder's defence up and grabbed one of her forepaws. She thrashed, but Spyro had already begun to turn this into a direct contest of strength and against him Cynder was outmatched.

Spyro embraced Cynder with his free paw and then twisted his hips against her belly, she suddenly found herself unable to struggle. Spyro was winning and Cynder couldn't get loose. She flapped her wings, but Spyro managed to catch one of them with his rear leg and pinned it to the ground.

He pinned the rest of Cynder to the ground immediately afterwards. She could see him grinning around her paw; she fought harder, trying to throw his body off of her.

She smacked her head against his, which made her head sore but hurt Spyro even more. She didn't usually go in for head butts, but she was running out of options. He didn't lose his grip, but Cynder could sense that she had had an impact on him in the way he held her. She hit him again, and then rolled around so that she was on top and Spyro was below her.

She had a paw free, so she started to hit Spyro repeatedly, trying to make him stop fighting. He didn't stop, just continued to doggedly control her struggles. He was still winning.

Cynder tried to beat Spyro down but he just wouldn't give in. He pulled her close and she couldn't get the angles she needed to hit him properly while she was pressed against his body.

It felt nice having Spyro's warmth so close to her, even now a part of Cynder wanted to let him win. She crushed that part of her away and kept fighting, but Spyro was clearly intending to win no matter what Cynder thought. He got the control he needed to roll back on top of Cynder. He released her wing to catch her other paw and used his weight to pin her to the ground.

Cynder tried to flap and Spyro used his own wings to catch hers. He rapidly released her other forepaw to catch it with his own, freeing his head. Cynder was totally trapped now, she wriggled as much as she could, but Spyro had caught her and the fight was as good as over. She still wasn't going to give up though.

She head butted Spyro, but he shifted his head out of the way, grinning at her.

"Do I win?" He gasped. Both of the dragons were panting heavily, Spyro looked rather dizzy from the beating Cynder had given him, he was also bleeding on her. His smile was playful, and he looked absurdly pleased with himself.

"Never! It's… a draw… You can't win." Cynder panted. It was true, Spyro might be in a winning position, but there was nothing he could do to stop Cynder from continuing to fight him, or so she thought.

"I'll make… you surrender." Spyro grinned.

He took her with a full on kiss, Cynder was so surprised that she gave up her resistance for a moment, Spyro took advantage of that to strengthen his grip. She ignored the pleasure of the kiss and broke it off, snapping at Spyro; he laughed and started kissing her exposed throat.

Over their past few days together Spyro had quickly discovered Cynder's weakness; there was one small spot right at the base of her throat that was extremely sensitive. As he started kissing her there Cynder's resistance melted and she started laughing and was unable to stop.

She had trouble breathing through her laughter, she could barely move and Spyro kept on kissing her throat. She writhed below him. Spyro began to alternate kissing and licking at her, Cynder couldn't help herself.

"Ah! No stop it! Not fair! Spyro stop it!"

This was embarrassing, Cynder was embarrassed at herself. The part of her that wanted Spyro to win was celebrating now, she was helpless. Paralysed by the pleasure.

"Stop it! Not now! Spyro!"

Spyro stopped, Cynder tried to regain her breath, she glared up at him and he grinned back.

"Do I win yet?" Spyro asked.

"No, this isn't a fair tactic." Cynder said. Spyro shrugged and smiled.

"I think it's working." He went back to her throat, nipping gently at her scales.

"Don't you dare!" Cynder squealed, she actually squealed it.

She was so embarrassed now; if this kept up she'd have no dignity left at all.

"You win! You win! Stop it! I submit!"

Spyro stopped.

"Submit?" He repeated, looking rather surprised.

"Uh…"

He leant forward to resume his attack.

"Yes! I submit!" Cynder said.

The last of her dignity made a small whooshing sound as it flew away.

"Right." Spyro said. "That… good. Two to one." He swayed slightly, and then he collapsed on top of her.

"Ow" Cynder said. She wriggled, Spyro was no longer holding her down, just lying on her. "Not that this isn't fun, but can I get up now?" The purple dragon didn't respond.

"You're heavy, Spyro." There was no reply.

Cynder tilted her head, an amusing thought crossing her mind.

"Are you unconscious?"

Spyro's continued silence was answer enough.

"Ohh!" Cynder huffed in annoyance and flopped back, looking up at the sky. "Why now? You couldn't have done that ten seconds earlier? Or thirty seconds. You had to hang on long enough to hear me say the word 'submit' didn't you?"

Spyro still didn't say anything. Cynder sighed.

"I love you Spyro. There must be something seriously wrong with me."

Cynder escaped from under Spyro and stood up, shaking herself off. She was tired now; she swayed as she got up and decided to sit back down again.

She was sore from where Spyro had hit her, but that was to be expected and she didn't mind, she had enjoyed their fight.

She watched Spyro's unconscious form, a gentle look appearing on her face. She curled up beside him and then slipped her tail underneath him and gently shifted him around until he was resting on her side. She relaxed as she lay there; this was what it had been like for the two of them just after Malefor's defeat, she had missed days like this so much.

Cynder tucked her wing over Spyro and began to gently lick his wounds.

* * *

 **How strange, this time I don't have anything to say.**

 **I feel I owe you some recompense for not having anything to say, so I'll leave you with an extra special quote, I live my whole life by this one, and I have it to thank for my writing:**

 **"Just about keeping interesting"**

 **-4Dragons**


	17. When Things Go According to Plan

The first thing Spyro was aware of as he woke was a soft stroking sensation on his side. He assumed it was Cynder, he could feel the rest of her body now, and he was lying against her. He opened his eyes, it appeared to be morning.

"Did I miss the whole night?" He asked. The gentle stroking paused.

"Yes, you were a bit out of it."

"You hit me, a lot."

"That's the point of sparring." Cynder said; he sensed that she was smiling.

"True. How about we make it best out of five?"

"Why, because you just realised that I still won?"

"That would be why. Yes… that would be exactly why."

Spyro raised his head and looked around to Cynder. She rested her paws on his shoulder and was gently licking at his scales.

"You really are an amazing fighter." Spyro said.

"Thanks, you're not bad yourself." Cynder smiled. "I hadn't realised how much the earth element was capable of outside of an earth boulder and earth shots."

"I think that earth is often underestimated. It's a powerful element."

Cynder detached herself from Spyro and stood up. She looked at the morning sky; the weather was nice for flying.

"We should get going." Spyro said.

"Yes. We'll do breakfast on the way." Cynder said.

"Mmm, breakfast."

* * *

There was no breakfast, much to Spyro's disappointment. The two dragons flew low, hoping to come across a nice fat sheep or some other consumable. The forest offered them nothing in the way of food.

Early in the afternoon the dragons came across a second, deeper and wider river. Berries were growing in the thorny bushes along its bank so Spyro and Cynder picked and ate those. They were nice tasting, if a bit sour, but there weren't enough for a meal.

Cynder spotted fish in the river, she pointed them out to Spyro and the two dragons dove in to catch themselves some food.

The water was uncomfortably cold to Cynder. She didn't stay down for long but she was able to catch herself a small silvery fish.

Spyro stayed under the water for easily five minutes, Cynder watched his purple form track back and forth across the bottom of the river. Eventually he rose to the surface, gasping in air. He had a large reddish brown coloured fish hanging out of the corner of his mouth.

"I got you these." He said, his voice was muffled by the fish in his jaws. He held up two more fat fish and shook the reddish one slightly. He swam over and clambered out of the river; Cynder took the one from his mouth with gratitude and ate it, Spyro offered her the other two.

"You can have them." Cynder said. Spyro shook his head.

"I ate four already." He told her.

"You're pretty good at catching fish." Cynder complimented him. She ate the other fish happily; Cynder wasn't one to turn down free food.

* * *

Beyond the river Spyro and Cynder got their first view of the distant mountains that the Catacombs lay below.

"More mountains" Spyro said happily.

"These ones are much nicer, and warmer." Cynder told him.

It was dusk by the time they reached the base of Twilight Falls, where the passage to the Catacombs that they had used years ago lay.

They had gotten a bit lost, but they had come across an utterly beautiful waterfall while they'd flown around looking for the way in.

Spyro could see why Cynder had mentioned these mountains in particular when she'd talked about her fondness for mountains. There were fireflies and clouds of smoky water vapour, the air smelled of the water and trees and it was a wonderful place to fly.

They flew up the waterfall and perched at the mouth of the cave.

"It's smaller then I remember." Spyro said.

"We've grown a lot." Cynder said.

"It'll probably be a trap." Spyro said. "Somewhere in there."

"Good, let's go spring it." Cynder smiled.

It was a tight place to fly, Cynder managed without much difficulty as she was a wind dragon but Spyro had trouble flying down the cave, not being quite able to flap his wings.

* * *

Eventually they came across a stone passage and the two dragons turned off the cave and went down it. They walked for a few minutes until they reached The Catacombs.

The rubble that had blocked the entrance when The Golem had attacked them here had been pushed aside. Clearly someone had been here; Spyro and Cynder advanced cautiously but encountered nothing but stone and emptiness.

The two dragons entered a platform, on either side of them the massive cave extended into the distance as far as they could see. The ceiling was high above them and Cynder and Spyro knew that their platform was something of a bridge crossing over an equally distant cavern floor.

"This place is big." Spyro said in amazement.

"You know stuff about caves, what do you think of this one?" Cynder asked, interested to hear Spyro's thoughts.

Spyro went to the edge of the platform and looked down, Cynder joined him, these caves were way bigger then she remembered. The ruins of a massive city clung to one single wall of the cave, this was where the dragons stood and the sheer size of the space before them was simply awesome.

"It's big." Spyro said.

"I'm sure Terrador would be proud of you. I can see that it's big, Spyro." Cynder smiled.

"Well it's a limestone cave, but limestone is formed from the ancient seafloor. Basically as the earth moves around when seafloor rises onto dry land limestone is created. This cave isn't possible though."

"Why not? Seems reasonable to me." Cynder said.

"Because look at the size of this place, look at the stalagmites and stalactites out there, they're massive. This is no normal cave."

"I like it more than the ice cave; I can fly around in here." Cynder commented.

The purple and black dragons turned their backs on the vast space and entered the ruined city. Immediately they took a left and found themselves looking down at a familiar series of ledges and climbing walls.

"I don't like these things." Spyro grumbled. "We'll need to take that pillar there and jump across to the vines on the left wall. I bet there's going to be a locked door on the far side too."

"Or we could just fly." Cynder suggested.

"Oh yeah. That's a good plan."

Cynder nodded thoughtfully, and then she grabbed a stone and threw it down at the ledges.

"Take _that_ , stupid platforms." She said. Spyro looked at her, puzzled.

"What?"

"That was very satisfying." Cynder told him.

The purple dragon shrugged, Cynder leapt into space and he accompanied her down to the next section of the ruined city.

There was indeed a locked door that barred their way. Spyro looked at it for a long moment.

"I've always wanted to do this."

He lowered his stance and scratched the ground as if he was going to charge the door. Then gathering his power, he lunged forwards at the door with an explosive comet dash attack.

It sounded like a thunderclap, echoing in the huge space. Cynder watched, awed, as the flames wreathed around Spyro and erupted outwards at the door, it was less like fire and more like hot lava, the fire itself actually had weight and mass. She felt the impact tremor through the ground.

The door made a deep crunch and was bent into two crumpled parts, barely maintaining its structure. Spyro made a large earth boulder and rolled into the wreck, pulverising the remains of the door. The sheer amount of power that Spyro now possessed impressed Cynder a great deal.

"That was satisfying too." He grinned.

"Saviour of realms and destroyer of doors. Nothing will stand in our way now." Cynder smiled.

At that exact moment dozens of orcs poured through the door and quickly surrounded the two dragons. Spyro and Cynder stood back to back, watching them come.

The creatures were bipedal and moved heavily hunched over, they were smaller then Spyro and Cynder were, but they did outnumber the dragons. Most of them held large two handed axes; there were also a few of the smaller variants which were armed with crossbows.

The orcs were not living creatures in a normal sense, they were animated by magic, had no brain, no digestive system and only the shallowest mockery of what could be called a heart. They had primitive emotions and basic artificial intelligence designed solely for battle, their numbers and aggressiveness made then unquestionably dangerous and made them perfect soldiers for Malefor's dark army.

Once they might have been an intimidating sight to the dragon couple, but not anymore.

"Cynder?" Spyro couldn't keep the amusement out of his voice.

"Yes Spyro?" She asked playfully.

"They're standing in our way."

"How foolish of them."

The two dragons moved at the same time, Spyro went left, Cynder went up.

The black dragoness created blades of wind on her wings and tail, slashing apart the orcs that came near her. As the orcs tried to attack her she skipped into the air and danced above the heads of her opponents, the wind whirled around her, deflecting the axes and bolts that sought her elusive form. Cynder was never even threatened; the orcs below her were nothing more than an annoyance.

Spyro took a different approach to the problem; he fired ice spikes at the first of his enemies then as they closed in he lashed out, knocking them back. He grabbed one of the orcs and swung it around him, using its body to bash the others. Once he and Cynder had been too small to do this to anything bigger than a grublin, but they had broth grown a lot since then. Spyro bit down on the Orc and crushed it in his jaws.

Seeing that Cynder had taken to the air Spyro hopped back for a moment's respite and charged up an earth shot. As the orcs got close he released the attack, obliterating the creatures nearest to him and knocking most of the crowd to the ground. Cynder was the only other one unaffected as the shockwave shook the entire platform dangerously.

Spyro stood up, looking around at the remaining orcs, he jumped into the air.

Spyro curled up into a ball. Cynder realised what he was about to do and used the wind to throw herself to the full extent of their chain as Spyro unleashed a lightning sphere.

Cynder watched the remaining orcs fry, even at almost two hundred meters away she could feel the power humming in the air, standing too close to that attack would be very painful indeed.

Spyro uncurled and the electricity flickered out of existence, Cynder flew back to Spyro's side and touched down gently beside him.

Neither dragon was even out of breath.

"You should warn me before using an area of effect attack next time, I could have gotten zapped." Cynder said.

"Oh, sorry. I haven't fought with a partner in a while." He said.

"We should work on our teamwork, partner." Cynder said with a smile. Spyro nodded.

"That sounds like a good idea." He agreed.

* * *

The two dragons walked into the next room, a pair of winged grublins were sitting on the floor. They saw the dragons and fled for the far door. Spyro fired an ice spike and one of the creatures fell to the ground but the other escaped.

"We'll get reinforcements coming now." Cynder said.

"On the contrary we'll get target practice now." Spyro said with a smile.

The two dragons took up position at the door the grublins had left from, there was a corridor beyond that the enemies had to come through to reach them.

"I want to go first." Spyro said.

"All right." Cynder said.

Four orcs entered the corridor; Spyro stood in the centre to meet them and waited. As they charged at him he took a deep breath and filled the whole corridor with a massive firestorm.

Cynder sighed as the heat washed over her; the roiling flames were funnelled by the walls and crashed back upon themselves in a burning maelstrom.

Unlike the grublins and the Great Orcs the intermediate sized creatures that made up most of the Dark Armies were always silent, they didn't even have mouths. They made no sound as they were incinerated by Spyro's fire.

"Powerful, but wasteful." Cynder commented.

Spyro breathed in and the fire responded, folding itself around and spinning into the shape he wanted. Cynder watched as Spyro used his fire to create a rose of beautiful twisted fire; the fiery flower burned hot blue and then shrank into a single point before disappearing.

Spyro breathed out again, relaxing.

"I was showing off." he told Cynder.

"Oh please, showing off is about more than scale, it takes style. The flower was a nice touch though."

"Well you certainly do have style. The next lot is yours." Spyro said.

"I'm not waiting here." Cynder replied. "Let's go."

She walked down the corridor; it was in the next room that the rest of the reinforcements were waiting.

* * *

The two dragons found themselves on a raised entrance, there was a large rectangular room below them and the exit door was on the far side.

There were no less than thirty orcs in the room, along with a few grublins and a great orc. The great orc waved its spiked club at the dragons and roared something neither of them could understand, beating its heavy shield on the ground for emphasis. The rest of its troops clearly could understand what it had said; they all rushed towards Spyro and Cynder.

"Allow me." Cynder smiled.

She stepped off the edge and landed lightly on the floor. The enemies hesitated. Cynder turned on her sexy walk and began to sashay straight towards the Great orc. The huge creature came forwards and swung its club down on her.

Cynder turned to smoke just before the impact; the club went right through her and cracked the floor. Despite the black cloud being too small for Cynder to dodge out of its way she was not hit. The creature grunted and lifted its club to swing again.

Spyro couldn't help but find Cynder's shadow element erotic, he loved watching her use it, the sexy walk helped too. He decided he must have a shadow fetish of some sort. It really was beautiful, such a gentle seeming power, but certainly not one to be underestimated.

The ethereal shape of Cynder kept walking, straight through the Great Orc without even glancing at it. The creature turned around to try another attack.

Cynder's shadow spread smoky wings and veiled the room with blackness.

Spyro was mesmerised as he watched the darkness slowly drift across the room in Cynder's wake, it coiled and turned below him, there was only silence down there.

He sat and watched the dark clouds, unable to see through them. It was only a few seconds that he was waiting, then the shadows began to fade, to drift away and reveal what Cynder could do.

Every single thing on the floor lay still where it had previously stood, totally unmarked. There hadn't even been a fight.

Cynder herself had almost reached the far door, still walking as if she hadn't even noticed the orcs and grublins that now decorated the floor around her. She reached the far door and paused, or possibly she posed, she did both really, casually looking back at Spyro.

"We're done here." She said.

"Wow."

"That's the correct response." Cynder smiled.

Spyro flew across the room to join Cynder.

"How did you do that?" He asked.

"Shadow and poison." Cynder said simply.

"So your shadow element can make you intangible, completely untouchable?"

"Yes, but I can still touch things around me and use my elements. The downside is that it drains my mana very quickly."

"Your powers are so brilliant." Spyro said. "What about fear?"

"I avoid using that one." Cynder said.

"Why?" Spyro asked curiously.

"Because it's easy. It's easy to use, it's addictive. It's powerful, the most powerful of my elements by far, but it's a power that I can't control, all my strongest fear abilities automatically target enemies, but I can't control who they target or even what exactly they'll do to the one they hit."

"Sounds dangerous."

"It's fear. Of course it's dangerous." Cynder said. "But I can do some things with control, I can use phantom fright, siren screams and I can influence the emotions of others just by being in contact with them."

"Cool."

The two dragons heard distant sounds from further within the catacombs; they looked at each other for a moment.

"Your turn." Cynder said.

Spyro walked towards the sound, they reached another open part of the city. Cynder had somehow forgotten how enormous The Catacombs were, but one look was enough to remind her.

There were more orcs on a suspended platform below them, Spyro and Cynder watched them for a moment but the creatures didn't notice the two dragons.

"You know Seizo gave me a book on interior decoration." Spyro said.

"Oh?" Cynder tilted her head, intrigued.

"I don't pretend to be an expert, but I really think that wall over there would look better on the cave floor." Spyro nodded at the wall. Cynder considered it.

"You might be right." She agreed.

"Okay then." Spyro pressed his paws against the ground and waited there for a moment. Then he shook his head and took two steps back and a step to the left before putting his paws back to the ground. "Here." He said, and then he raised a paw and punched the floor hard.

A sort of shiver ran through the stone, there was a moment when nothing happened and then the entire wall Spyro had indicated gave way and fell on the platform the orcs were standing on.

When the dust settled Cynder looked down.

"It does look better now." She said happily. "It's got a more authentic feel."

"Seismic redecoration, stylish _and_ effective."

"Very impressive, are you finished showing off?"

Spyro and Cynder looked around, a dragon stood on a ledge above them.

* * *

Cynder frowned at the silhouetted figure. It wasn't Malefor, that was clear, but then who was it? The dragon walked forwards, revealing himself to be a light blue colour, about the same shade as Cyril.

"Spyro and Cynder, You've kept us waiting."

"Who are you?" Spyro asked.

"My name is Gracious, but I'm sure you won't know me." The dragon said, he leapt off his platform and landed lightly in front of the two dragons.

"Where's Malefor?" Spyro asked. The dragon smiled.

"He is no longer here. There are many things which require his attention."

"So this is a trap?"

"Of course it is." Gracious turned and began to walk away.

Spyro and Cynder shared a look.

"And? Where's the trap?"

"Follow me."

"Why tell us there's a trap before we're even in it?" Spyro asked.

"Because I have no doubt you'll follow me anyway." Gracious said, he chose a corridor and walked down it.

Spyro and Cynder shared another look, and then Cynder shrugged.

"Let's go then." She said.

"We're terrible." Spyro said. He tucked his wing over Cynder as they followed Gracious down the corridor. She rubbed herself against his side.

Cynder stopped after they had gone a short distance; suddenly recalling that she did know the name Gracious.

"I do know you." She said.

The ice dragon looked back, frowning slightly.

"And I know your brother is the one in the corridor behind us."

Spyro turned around and spotted the second dragon that Cynder had sensed with her wind.

"You were guards at Darkmire's tomb. The two we couldn't find." Cynder finished. "Gracious and Seth."

"Well done. Did you go to Darkmire's tomb then?"

"Yes we did." Spyro said, realising that Cynder was right. "You were the captain of the guard there; do you know what happened to your command?"

"I know exactly what happened to my command. It was unfortunate but necessary."

"Dragons died there. Your prisoners escaped." Spyro said.

"I said I knew. Some sacrifices had to be made." Gracious stalked down the corridor, Spyro and Cynder followed.

They emerged in a very familiar room.

The walls were huge stands, filled with orcs and grublins, hundreds of the creatures. These stands were built around a chasm, there was no way to tell how deep it was, but the glow of heat down there suggested it was filled with magma.

Isolated in the middle of this fiery arena was a square stage.

This stage had been modified, Cynder remembered a large pillar had fallen on it, that was now gone. The pattern on the floor had also been removed, but poorly, and a crude network of slashes and cuts had taken its place.

Cynder found this place reminded her of the colosseum in Warfang, how many creatures from how many races would have met their end in this room? It was clearly made for fighting, a place meant to hold a massive crowd of bloodthirsty spectators. What sort of civilization had once lived here? The moles? The apes? The dragons? She didn't know.

This was where Spyro and Cynder had reawakened after everything had turned to chaos at The Well of Souls. It had been a painful wakeup call, suddenly being forced to fight for their lives against first grublins and then a giant monster.

Gracious flew across the arena and took position on a high podium, this podium was also new. He looked back at the two dragons and they flew to the arena platform.

"Well you've got us right where you wanted us." Spyro said. "But I'd like to know why you're working for Malefor. What's in it for you?"

Gracious was silent for a moment, his brother Seth closed and locked the door that the dragons had come through before joining Spyro and Cynder on the platform.

"I admire your courage Spyro; I'll give you your answer."

Gracious swept his wings and the crowds around them fell silent.

"A century ago the ice and the fire dragons were at war, I would have been your age and my brother was just barely more than a hatchling. The war had dragged on for over a hundred years with no clear advantage to either side, then that all changed. A fire dragon began to rise within his society, constantly defeating us in raids and skirmishes. He was a master tactician, a deadly fighter and completely devoid of mercy.

"His name became feared among our kind, some of the older drakes scared my brother with stories about him, his name was Magmar and he was known as the bloodfire dragon."

"Magmar." Seth spat, he circled around Spyro and Cynder, looking up at Gracious as if waiting for a command to attack. Gracious shook his head to his brother.

"In minor fights the ice dragons lost again and again to this demon, so they chose to destroy him in a major decisive battle. Magmar had been waiting for that, in one stroke he broke the spirit of our kind and raised himself to lordship over his own. None of the dragons or the wolves sent against him survived, not a single one came back, and both of our parents were among the dead. He was legendary for his brutality, his ability and his willingness to go beyond winning, to crush his enemies so completely that they would never rise to confront him again. Every dragon of fighting age he came across he would destroy immediately and without hesitation. I was one of those.

"We were waiting with the other dragons and wolves for our parents to return, but instead _he_ came. He slaughtered everyone, leaving only those to weak or too young to fight still alive. He would have killed me too, but… I was comforting my brother… he was crying and I couldn't leave him." Gracious spoke softly, lost in memories.

"It was about sending a message." Seth hissed.

"That's what Magmar said, he told me to go and warn the other dragons what would become of those who challenged him, and then he was gone."

"You aren't the only ones who have tragic childhoods." Cynder said.

"We do seem to have something in common, yes." Gracious said.

"We should make this a group therapy session." Spyro joked. Cynder found it funny, but the two ice dragons apparently didn't.

"Magmar spared us, but his underlings did not, we were captured and enslaved. For twenty years we served the fire dragons, it was mere luck that neither of us was killed and we were not separated. We began to pray, to The Ancestors, to luck, to fate, to any kindness the world had left for us."

"There was no kindness in the world." Seth said.

"No there wasn't. The Ancestors did not listen, luck and fate abandoned us. Finally we prayed to Malefor, and he _answered_ us! He came to us in our dreams, giving us comfort, sympathy, offering us our freedom. One day our paths crossed that of Magmar again, he recognised us somehow, we were so starved and broken I don't know how he did so, but when he did he simply freed us, without explanation, without apology, he just let us go."

Seth nodded. "Malefor saved us, it was him! He taught us, guided us to safety, and gave us a new life back among our own kind. He is a god, a better god then the ones we once worshiped."

"And he never asked anything in return." Gracious said. "But we could help him, and we wanted to. He told us about himself, told us his plan and asked if we wished to aid him, and he also offered us vengeance, justice."

"The Dark Master taught me too, it was not a pleasant existence." Cynder said.

"Don't you get it yet? Malefor is not the Dark Master; the Dark Master is merely his evil shadow, a twisted vile corruption of the true Purple Dragon. Malefor chose to seal himself in Convexity; you really thought the four Guardians were capable of such a thing? He did it to himself to keep his dark side in check."

"I find that hard to believe." Spyro said.

"Surely you can understand a split personality? Your own Dark Spyro is no different. It's the destiny of the Purple and Black dragons to destroy the world; you all face the same doom."

"I don't have a dark side, I have a _bad_ side, and you two coming close to getting on it." Cynder said.

"Malefor is fair to those who aid him, he told us his whole plan and it was perfect. When a purple and a black egg together were laid in the year of the dragon Malefor knew the time had come. His pet monster Gaul was sent to get the black egg, while Malefor meant for the purple egg to be raised by Ignitus."

"You mean what happened at the dragon temple was arranged?" Spyro asked.

"That the innocent eggs had to die grieved Malefor a great deal, it was our task, the task of Malefor's most trusted servants, to arrange the night raid on the temple. However at the same time the Dark Master gave specific orders that every egg but one were to be destroyed. We needed the black and purple eggs, yours, to survive and that was ensured, but at the cost of the other eggs."

"It couldn't be possible to control something like that." Spyro said.

"True, Malefor had not expected you to be raised by dragonflies during your childhood, but his plan was easily adapted once you were reunited with Ignitus. Until then the Dark Master controlled Cynder's own dark side and Malefor stopped Cynder from capturing Ignitus until the two of you were ready to battle in Convexity.

"You see Convexity was the perfect battleground, while you were there Cynder could be contained if she defeated you and you were close enough to Malefor's prison for him to exert some influence over the battle, to help you win. At the very end of your fight Malefor allowed Cynder's true dark side to be free and you crushed it as spectacularly as you had crushed her controlled form."

"You can't tell me Malefor planned that, it was nuts." Spyro said.

"Actually that's not impossible." Cynder said cautiously. "If I did have a dark side and Malefor wanted to get rid of me it was the perfect way to do so."

"Oh no, it was much better than that. Malefor wanted Spyro to _save_ you. And he did, the two of you were meant to. After that Malefor had no more need of the ape king Gaul, so he arranged his death too."

"But how could he have known we'd kill Gaul?" Spyro said in shock.

"Malefor is a god, his genius is unrivalled. But you were never meant nor expected to kill Gaul, that task was given to the two of us, and you cheated us out of it."

"Forgive and forget." Seth said.

"We bear you no ill will for that, but I would have enjoyed ending that miserable excuse for a life myself."

"So you serve the guy who constantly arranges for his generals to lose?" Spyro laughed.

"Gaul was a monster. Just like the lightning dragon Thoran. They met the ends they deserved, justice."

"So why did you release Thoran? He killed your guard."

"So we could put him down like the feral wolf he is. He knew not that he was going to a carefully arranged trap. I can assure you that one way or another Thoran is lying dead right now, and the world is a better place because he has left it. You need not fear him anymore. That's what Malefor truly wants, to make this world a better place, one monster at a time. The next monster to meet his end will be the fire king, Magmar, but that's getting ahead of our little story."

"I suppose you're going to say Malefor planned for us to be trapped in crystal too?" Spyro asked.

"No. Not at all, that was nearly disastrous for this world, it was three years before he could have you freed." Gracious saw the disbelief on Spyro's face and laughed. "Oh yes he freed you, wouldn't it have been easier for the Dark Master to leave you trapped until the world's ending? Of course it would be, but Malefor needed you to stop him. He had you chained together, a stroke of genius, to be sure you did not face the Dark Master without help, and he himself used his power to weaken the dragon you fought. It was three against one, and you two and Malefor survived while the Dark Master met his end, freeing the purple dragon at last from his accursed destiny."

"You sound pretty sure, but I can't recall you being present at any of these events." Spyro said.

"No, we were preparing for the endgame. The endgame is happening now, just in case you've missed that. Malefor ensured we would recover his physical remains and keep them safe at Darkmire's tomb; I became captain of the guard there for this reason alone. His servant waited in Warfang, knowing that the crystal containing the energy of Malefor's spirit would be brought there. Once all was in place Malefor could be returned to his true glory. It was arranged that you two would be re-chained and sent here. Now the final obstacle to Malefor's perfection, Dark Spyro, is within our grasp."

"You've been outplayed." Seth laughed.

"Neat. Very neat. I'm not sure I believe it but thanks for that. We were trying to figure out what Malefor was up to and you've saved us some time by just telling us straight up." Spyro smiled. "But you still haven't said why you two personally are doing this. Oh, and if you could just quickly name this servant in Warfang that would be appreciated too."

"Is this bravery or arrogance?" Gracious asked.

"I can do both." Spyro replied.

"You do seem to live up to your legend. It's amusing that Malefor planned your entwined stories so completely. I'd almost be afraid that we didn't bring enough firepower to take you two down but… well… we did."

Gracious gestured to the stands filled with orcs; the two dragons were outnumbered by easily a hundred to one. In fact the numbers were probably closer to two hundred to one.

"This, this is what serving Malefor has given us, an army! The power we need to take our revenge on the fire dragons, the power to end the reign of the monster. You think this is all we have? We have much more than this, tens of thousands of orcs. Enough to crush Magmar to dust and the entire city of Shattershelf along with him!"

"Okay, that's actually a fair deal." Cynder said thoughtfully.

"The purple dragon is a god. We have done what he asked of us and he has rewarded us." Gracious laughed.

Spyro gave a weary sigh and looked at Cynder with amusement.

"You know _I'm_ a purple dragon too, but do I get loyal worshippers and armies of servants? Ooh nooo, not _Spyro_ , he gets a golden dragonfly and a gaggle of adoring dragonesses."

Cynder laughed, and then she pressed herself close to Spyro, running her tail over his side, and licked his cheek.

"Adoring dragonesses can have their uses." She whispered sultrily to him.

"Uhh…"

Cynder laughed at Spyro's reaction and returned her attention to the situation at hand.

"Seth, do you want to deal with this alone?" Gracious asked.

His brother nodded eagerly.

"Very well, but be cautious, these dragons are powerful despite their youth." He half turned, and then he looked back at Spyro and Cynder. "I apologise for this. Really I am sorry."

Gracious vanished from his podium leaving Spyro and Cynder alone with the prowling ice dragon and several hundred bloodthirsty beasts.

"This is going to be fun."

"I swear I was just about to say that."

* * *

 **"All ideas deserve a chance."**


	18. So, That was a Trap

**I am proud to announce that I have recently created a Deviantart account. 'Always4Dragons' is my name, as my usual name was sadly already taken.**

 **Anyways, I promised you all in a note a few chapters ago that I would attempt to create art for this story. That's what I've done.**

 **Thus far I've drawn a picture of Spyro and a picture of Imperia. I'll admit tehy aren't perfect, but I'm quite proud of them and encourage you to check them out if you've enjoyed the story so far.**

 **I'll just quickly say here that if your image of Imperia and mine don't match then you can go with yours, I don't want to mess with her.**

 **This link surely won't work, but I'll put it here anyway: always4dragons. deviantart art/My-Spyro-576353314**

 **I hope you like my art, I doubly hope you like this new chapter!**

 **Story now:**

* * *

On a small platform above a lake of fire surrounded by hundreds of orcs, the ice dragon Seth stalked Spyro and Cynder.

"I didn't really want to have to kill you, Malefor and Gracious didn't either, that's why they've left you for me." Seth said.

"Then why are you going to try?" Spyro asked. Seth shrugged.

"Sometimes a few dragons have to die for the sake of us all; you two are disruptions, threats. If left to your own devices you would damage the perfect world Malefor will create."

"A perfect world needs to have me in it." Cynder said, completely straight faced. Spyro snorted with laughter.

"Are you going to take this seriously?" Seth asked.

"Nope, never." Cynder said with a smile.

"Well if that makes you feel better about this…" Seth lunged for Spyro.

Spyro saw it coming, Cynder saw it coming. The only one who didn't expect what happened next was Seth.

The ice dragon was fast, very fast, but he'd made the critical mistake of leaving himself too much distance to cross in launching his "surprise" attack.

Spyro didn't quite have the weight and strength of a full grown dragon, but he had the skill to use what he did have to perfect effect.

The movement that would become an attack began in Spyro's feet before racing up his legs and flowing through his tail and back as the purple dragon reared up; Cynder admired the grace of the motion, then Spyro twisted his shoulders, pivoted and smashed a devastating punch into the ice dragon's jaw. Cynder recognised that Spyro had adapted one of the moves from the Way of balance into his counterattack. Close combat may not have been Spyro's greatest strength, but that didn't make him any less devastating at it.

Seth was caught completely off guard and crashed to the ground. But he was quick to rise again, and anger flickered across his face.

"Perhaps I was incautious. Let's do this properly." He looked around at the stands and row upon row of orcs. "Kill them both." He said.

In moments the platform was filled with enemies, Spyro and Cynder were trapped. Cynder cloaked herself in shadows and she instead had the enemy trapped… from the inside. That was plenty enough for her to work with, she swept through the crowd and began to do what she did so well, kill things.

Spyro decided that dealing with their opponents one by one was too slow, and after all he couldn't simply poison and forget like Cynder did. He breathed in and concentrated, then he breathed out a snowstorm. Visibility dropped to almost zero, the temperature dropped sharply and snow danced across the platform.

Cynder recognised Spyro's favoured combo, she cleared the air around her of snow with her wind magic and retreated to the walls outside of the blizzard as quickly as she could.

Spyro spent several seconds creating spears of ice and sending them crashing down on the orcs nearby to ensure Cynder had time to get clear, he wasn't going to let her get hurt. Seth decided to take the fight to Spyro, being unaffected by the ice storm.

Spyro suddenly found his ice was turning back against him, he didn't have the skill required to beat the other ice dragon at his own game, but he didn't need skill when all his problems could be solved with a touch of lightning.

Spyro's blizzard lit up with electricity, Seth screamed, but his soldiers did not. However when the lightning faded it was rather ironic that Seth was still standing and nothing else was.

"Bastard!" Seth snarled, in surprise and pain. "You can't win!"

Spyro went to answer, but then decided it was wiser to say nothing. "Sure we can win." Was not the sort of thing he wanted immortalised as his last words. All the same he was pretty confident; unless Seth and Gracious had prepared a better trap than this he knew he and Cynder could handle it.

This time the great orcs joined the battlefield. Spyro used his comet dash to knock the huge creatures off balance while Cynder leapt into the air and aimed to strike them with her lethal poison. A swarm of flying grublins disrupted the fight. Cynder used her wind to send them crashing down to earth where Spyro could finish them off.

Spyro pressed his paws to the ground and broke a large segment of the platform off, sending all the orcs on it falling into the fire below them.

Seth was beginning to realise that the two dragons were much more powerful than he had expected. That these two should be so strong at such a young age was an unpleasant surprise. He launched ice spikes at Spyro, who countered by raising a rampart of stone out of the platform. Seth jumped up on the wall that Spyro had created and sent a hail of tiny ice splinters down at the purple dragon. Spyro melted every splinter with a torrent of fire, and then launched a fireball while he was hidden from Seth's view. The ice dragon needed all of his speed to dodge the concealed attack, then he was struck hard from above by the black dragoness. He didn't realise how fortunate he was that Cynder failed to cut his hard scales, but he realised that he was in a bad position and fell back to let his orcs keep the dragons busy.

Cynder stopped using her shadows, they were taking too much of her mana, she had a huge amount of mana to throw at problems, but there were an equally huge amount of problems to be dealt with. She realised she needed to conserve her power, so she switched to using wind only as the drain on her mana it caused was minimal. Without Cynder's influence the battle began to turn against the two dragons, orcs rose from the ground or jumped down onto the platform from the walls faster than the two dragons were defeating the creatures.

Spyro was struck several times. He focused on taking down the biggest threats as they appeared, trusting to his defence and his hard scales to protect him from the enemies he didn't deal with immediately. A few blows got past his guard and an axe bounced off his shoulder, not cutting him but still causing pain. Spyro created an earth pillar below his feet which he used to launch himself into the air, and then he spread his wings and regained his composure above the battlefield. Soon he had to dodge ice spikes launched by Seth from below, he retaliated with fireballs and ice spikes of his own and the older dragon took cover on the walls below the platform.

Spyro noticed Cynder was almost surrounded and wasn't using her shadows to escape, he dove down to help her but before he could reach her a great orc rose from the ground beside her and caught Cynder full on with a devastating swing of its spiked club.

Cynder felt the air rush out of her body at the blow, she folded under the impact and was knocked to the ground. That had hurt a great deal, she put her paw to her side, there were no puncture wounds and no ribs were broken, as far as she could tell. She struggled to straighten her body out but she was winded, a winded wind dragon was sort of ironic, but it was too painful to laugh with her side in this state. Cynder determinedly clambered to her feet and hissed in defiance at the great orc as it wound up for a crushing blow. Dragon time would be helpful right about now, she thought.

Cynder felt a buzz in her belly; pleasntly it eased the discomfort she felt. The world turned purple and slowed to a crawl. Cynder knew she hadn't activated dragon time, she still didn't know how to do it, but the mystery was solved soon enough when the great orc slowly coming in for a second attack was torn limb from limb by explosive fire.

Spyro emerged from the ruins of the creature's torso, he looked furious, more furious then Cynder had ever seen him. Normal time restarted and the fight paused as everything in the room hurriedly reassessed the threat this purple dragon posed. Spyro's eyes flickered yellow, his teeth were bared. His entire body radiated power like waves of heat. He looked, for want of a better word, deranged.

He looked like dark Malefor.

Spyro reached down and grasped the head of the great orc that had struck Cynder and wrenched it from the creature's shoulders as easily as if it had been made of paper. He raised it up.

" _Nobody touches her!_ " He roared and the entire cavern vibrated with the massive force of his voice.

He brought the skull down with a wet crack, crunching it into paste.

His voice reminded Cynder of something, a dream she faintly recalled, a nightmare of fire and darkness. Spyro was letting his rage take him over.

She ran forwards and grabbed him, holding him tightly.

"Spyro! Don't lose control!" She looked deeply into his eyes, they were their usual beautiful purple, but madness was bleeding through them. "I'm here Spyro, calm down."

The purple dragon hesitated; his eyes betrayed a hint of confusion.

"Come on, smirk and laugh it off. Make me want to smack you." Cynder said to him.

The corners of Spyro's mouth twitched upwards.

"Are you alright?" He asked. He returned Cynder's embrace and checked her side for injury.

"I'm fine." Cynder smiled, "I can take care of myself. Are you alright?"

"Thanks Cynder. Thanks for stopping me again." Spyro said.

"No problem." Cynder said gently.

"Dark Spyro." The couple looked around, having almost fogotten that they were in fact surrounded by enemies. Seth walked up to them as he continued speaking. "Now you have to die, do you understand how nessecary this is? Now you should be able to understand."

Spyro looked at Cynder, who nodded to him, and then he put on his most confident look and replied.

"You can't win, I may not be strong enough to beat you, but Dark Spyro will be. You really should have brought more firepower."

"Dark Spyro is not without weaknesses, attachments. Love." Seth moved fast, Cynder had to admire his speed.

He caught her firmly and put a razor sharp blade of ice to her throat. She still had to admire his speed, but grudgingly now. He'd gotten too close to her.

"Wow. You really are quick." Spyro said.

"I am, but this next part is proably going to be rather slow. I can make it simple for you though. If you kill yourself right now I'll let her go."

There was a moment of silence. Then Spyro snorted with laughter.

"You would have been better off grabbing me." Spyro said. Seth frowned.

"You still find this funny? I think you may find it less so if I rip out Cynder's eye."

"That would be less funny." Spyro admitted.

"Perhaps Dark Spyro will be more easily persuaded. I'm sure you're getting angry, aren't you Spyro?"

"Yes. I am getting angry, I'm looking forwards to getting hold of you now, but I'm not quite that angry."

"Do you not believe I'll do it? Cynder I promise I would have preferred not to do this, but you seem likely to suffer in this standoff, what do you think?"

Cynder turned, careful not to give Seth an excuse to harm her, then she too smiled.

"You would've been better off grabbing Spyro."

Cynder turned into shadow; Seth stumbled as his captive disappeared beneath his paws. Cynder's smoky shape slipped straight through the ice dragon's body before reforming behind him and skipping away.

"Everyone was afraid of the Terror of the Skies, but as Cynder I am constantly underestimated. I don't need Spyro to save me, and I certainly don't need him to sacrifice himself for me. I'm powerful in my own right. You may be one of the first to learn it, but certainly you won't be the last."

Seth whirled around and fired ice spikes at Cynder, she concealed herself in the darkness again and they phased straight through her.

"Any second now you'll start to regret doing that." Cynder said coldly. Seth went to attack Cynder again, but found his body was unresponsive. He staggered, tried to stop himself from falling and couldn't.

Seth landed heavily, Cynder smiled and walked back to him, Spyro joined her.

"It took just a small cut on your leg. You probably didn't even feel it. You 'll be dead in a few hours, but before then you can look forwards to partial paralysis, heart palpitations, surges of adrenaline and eventually uncontrollable muscle spasms. You may wet yourself, or damage your own limbs through spasms before you die, but in a relative sense it won't be all that painful."

"You can be a bit scary sometimes." Spyro said to Cynder.

"You should have seen yourself a minute ago. ' _nobody touches her!'_ It was rather impressive."

"Ehe, yes." Spyro laughed with embarrassment. "Anyway. He touched you so…" Spyro stamped down on Seth's paw as hard as he could, the ice dragon hissed in pain. "I don't usually have a habit of taking revenge, but I'll make an exception for that."

He leaned down to speak to the ice dragon directly.

"You and your brother were going to Shattershelf; we know that. I have only one simple question: Where is Malefor? Where was he going?"

Seth hissed at them.

"He can speak, right?" Spyro asked Cynder. She nodded.

"Where was Malefor going? Cynder may have a cure for you if you behave. Answer me."

"You're… too slow." Seth let out a rasping laugh. "He's so far… ahead of you. Malefor is… perfect… a god…"

"And where did dragon perfection go?" Spyro asked.

"I can tell you… can't stop him now… The White Isle. He went to… see Ignitus!"

"See who?" Spyro asked, completely thrown by the response. Cynder recalled that the White Isle was where the dragon Chronicler, said to be one of the Ancestors, resided and watched over all of dragonkind. Spyro had met The Chronicler before; the blue dragon had spoken to him in his dreams and helped him regain his powers after his battle with Cynder.

"Ignitus died, he can't be at the White Isles."

"Heh… Death is not the obstacle… that you think… it is. Ignitus was saved… he is the Chronicler now."

"That's not possible, he would have told me." Spyro said, shocked.

"Cant. He's not meant… to interfere." Seth coughed. "Malefor needed library… He found the Chronicler… he got what he wanted."

Spyro grasped Seth's head and spoke to him in a low dangerous voice. Cynder looked around; the orcs did not seem willing to attack them, perhaps because Seth was under threat, or because they were too afraid of Spyro. Whatever the reason they held back, it was a relief to Cynder.

"Is Ignitus still alive?" Spyro snarled.

"Yes…" Seth hissed.

"At the White Isle?"

"Yes."

"Where is Malefor now?"

"He's waiting for us… at Shattershelf. When the city falls… he will be there to watch… the first victory."

"Thanks, this has been very helpful." Spyro smiled. "Cynder can decide whether or not to give you an antidote. I suggest that you ask nicely."

Spyro stood up and looked around at the assembled orcs.

"What are you lot waiting for?" He yelled. There was no response. He shrugged. Cynder stood over Seth.

"Antidote… please?"

"Will you try to kill us again?"

"Honestly… yes." Seth said.

"Sometimes being a hero is so annoying." Cynder grumbled. "I wasn't going to let you die though." She jabbed her tail blade into the ice dragon's side. "That will cure you but it has a delayed effect, don't bother trying to get up again yet."

Spyro and Cynder started to walk away.

* * *

"Do we know how to get out of here?" Cynder asked.

"Not yet." Spyro said cheerily.

"So… this was a trap." Cynder noted.

"It was okay, I suppose. As traps go."

"Not very threatening, they should have brou-"

Cynder was cut off as the entire room shook. Spyro looked at her sadly.

"You had to say it didn't you?"

"What's going on?"

Spyro pressed his paw to the ground, he sighed wearily.

"Yep. It's big, moving fast, below us…"

"What is it?"

"I'll give you three guesses." Spyro said.

Cynder didn't have time to make a guess, but in fairness to her she would have gotten it right on her first attempt.

A massive rocky hand rose out of the fire and grasped the platform.

"I really thought we killed this guy." Spyro said.

"I think there's more than one."

The Golem rose up to the celling, filling all the space in the arena, it's huge mouth was big enough to swallow a dragon whole, it roared with a high shrieking sound. Its burning pit eyes fixed on the two dragons as it settled into position over the platform. The orcs went crazy; many were knocked from their stands into the fire.

"It doesn't like us." Spyro observed.

"I think it doesn't like you."

The golem lowered its head and roared again; hot air rushed from its mouth, driving Spyro and Cynder several steps back before Cynder deflected the force with wind magic. At least the monstrous creature didn't have bad breath.

Suddenly the Golem caught sight of Seth; the ice dragon was laying helpless right in front of it. The creature's eyes narrowed, it reached down and swatted at the paralysed dragon. Seth disappeared into the fire below, his scream unheard over the Golem's roar.

"That's… bad." Cynder said, stunned.

Killing orcs was one thing, the creatures were magical constructs with minimal intelligence, but the death of a dragon was something very different. She hadn't been expecting something so sudden, so merciless.

"The Golem didn't like him either." Spyro said, but his heart wasn't in the words.

The Golem gave the dragons no time to get over what had just happened, it swung its arm across the platform, Cynder rolled under the attack, Spyro was still too shocked to react with his usual speed, and the Golem smacked him off the edge of the platform along with the orcs that hadn't hidden under the ground. Spyro spread his wings and circled around to behind the Golem, he fired ice spikes into its back, which had almost no effect.

"Go for its head!" Cynder yelled. She flew for the same target and slashed a wind blade across the Golem's throat, she cut its lava-like flesh, but the monster had no vital organs to destroy.

The creature was huge; as it thrashed around in anger it cracked the walls and the stands. This Golem might even have been bigger than the first one.

Spyro dodged around the huge creature, its tail swept up and he jerked to the side to evade it. Being behind the Golem was just as dangerous as being in front of it. Spyro went to the celling, it had been cracked by a flailing arm, and he took a moment to find a weak spot up there and then sent a surge of power through the stone.

Tonnes of rock crashed down on the monster, the creature screamed as it was knocked from its place and it nearly fell down into the fire. But it did not fall; instead it caught the sides of the arena and clambered its way back up. Now it was definitely mad.

Spyro and Cynder faced off against the monster, it swung at them, and then slammed its hand into the platform, trying to squash them. Spyro and Cynder dodged easily, Spyro fired ice spikes at it as it got close, but he was doing minimal damage.

"We'll need to work together!" Cynder called. Spyro nodded. "I'll keep it busy; you try to damage it with your more destructive elements."

"Good luck." Spyro replied.

Cynder flew up to the Golem's face and hit it with a gust of wind to get its attention. As its eyes locked on her flying shape she spat burning poison into the monster's eye socket. The Golem howled, Cynder tried to loop around to get its other eye but it was shaking its massive head back and forth and she couldn't get a clear shot. Cynder used more wind blades to injure the monster further, but it showed surprising cunning in working out where the attacks were coming from and responded by lunging forwards in that direction, trying to eat Cynder.

Cynder ducked under the gaping mouth and landed on the Golem's vast chest, somehow the beast must have had a sense of touch, because it beat its giant fists against its chest to try to catch her. Cynder skipped around the monster to its back and then its shoulder.

She looked down at the platform, Spyro was charging up some sort of electric attack that made his whole body glow brilliantly. The Golem's remaining eye spotted the bright light and the monster went to smash Spyro flat.

Cynder smashed her tail blade into the creature's eye, but it still remained on target despite its blindness.

The Golem's massive hand came down and Spyro was underneath it.

Cynder screamed in fury, one final devastating wind blade slashed the Golem's head and split a large piece of it right off, causing the monster to roar in pain, but its hand stayed where it was. Cynder flew straight for where she had last seen Spyro. He was tough, he was a dragon, he had to still be alive and she had to help him.

She was halfway there when the Golem's entire right forearm quite simply exploded. Spyro staggered to his feet, looking battered but still determined. His entire body was glowing with lightning.

He stumbled slightly, dazed by the force of the impact, then his eyes locked onto the golem and he snarled and bellowed a challenge.

"ALWAYS… BURY… YOUR APPLE SEEDS!" He roared, and then he flew straight past an astonished Cynder and right for the Golem's open mouth.

Spyro hit and the monster came apart around him and the headless remains of the Golem fell back into the abyss and it was the strangest battle cry Cynder had ever heard.

She watched as Spyro flapped dizzily back around towards her and landed in a heap at her feet. She hurriedly checked him for injury but found he seemed to be alright.

"Some trap." Spyro mumbled.

"Are you okay? Can you talk?" Cynder asked, she hugged him tightly and put her wings around him.

"Yeah."

"What does burying apple seeds have to do with anything at all?" She had to ask, it was too weird.

"Oh… uh." Spyro blinked. "It was just the first thing I thought of… They can grow into new apple trees, you see. Maybe 'always' was the wrong word…"

"Seriously?"

"I think I'm concussed." Spyro mumbled. "You're very beautiful Cynder."

"Stop overacting. I'll stop hugging you."

"Nooo… please don't stop." Spyro moaned.

Cynder kissed him on the forehead.

"I wouldn't."

* * *

After a while the two dragons stood up. Spyro shook himself off with a sigh. They stood for a while, slowly relaxing. Cynder hadn't realised how tense she was.

The couple walked to the front edge of the platform and looked down. The heat rose up from below slowly.

"Seth is gone." Spyro said. Cynder nodded.

"That shouldn't have happened. He didn't need to die."

"No. Nobody needs to die." Spyro said sadly. Cynder sat and thought for a moment.

"He said Ignitus was alive."

"At the White Isle." Spyro said.

"This is your choice; it's up to you Spyro." Cynder said. "Do we go there?"

Spyro sighed again and shook his head.

"The dragons at Shattershelf may have been at war with us, but they don't need to die, they don't deserve to be destroyed for the vengeance of Gracious or the whim of Malefor."

"You're right, I agree. We can't just ignore them."

"We're going to Shattershelf."

"Do you know where it is? Because I don't."

"I know the general area, we'll find it. It'll probably be the city with the army camped out the front."

"No problem."

Spyro turned and began to fly to the door they had entered to. It was almost at the end of their chain, but not quite, the glowing snake charm gently tugged her towards where Spyro was. Cynder listened to Spyro scrabble around at the door for a few seconds before she heard him make a victorious sound and the door slid open.

"Let's get going." Spyro said. "This wasn't so bad as far as side quests go, but there isn't anything left for us here."

Cynder nodded, but turned for one final look down at the fire Seth had fallen into before she left.

"Death is not the obstacle that you think it is." She murmured.

* * *

 **"If you cannot explain a thing in simple terms, then you do not understand it well enough yourself."**

 **-4Dragons**


	19. Tension

**I got stuck writing this chapter and I was helped out of it by a song. 'Stereo Hearts' by Gym Class Heroes.**

 **It's a nice love song, the lyrics don't quite perfectly fit but that's okay. Play it whenever you like, or don't. Up to you.**

 **Story now:**

* * *

Flying was tiring; despite Cynder's helpful wind Spyro was feeling the strain. He had rarely ever flown long distances before; certainly he hadn't done so constantly over multiple days. All the fighting hadn't been helping either. Add in the minor fact that neither of the two of them had slept, having found the catacombs in the evening and not been given a chance to rest what with all the fighting and talking and traps and disrupting things, both Spyro and Cynder were exhausted.

Stopping in the vicinity of the Catacombs didn't seem like a good idea either, grublins, orcs or worse were quite probably looking for them, just waiting for Spyro and Cynder to make a bad move.

The two dragons had left forest behind them for now, scrubby foothills with irregular valleys slashing through them covered the ground Spyro and Cynder flew over now. The entire landscape was extremely drab. It didn't seem like a very liveable place.

Cynder noticed Spyro seemed to be tiring. She was in somewhat better shape, but not by all that much. It had been years since she had felt fatigue in flight, her wind magic made it effortless, but she remembered what it was like to have aching wing muscles.

Dawn was breaking now, pale and miserable, rather than helping the couple fly it only seemed to make everything more exhausting. They had to stop.

"We should land." Cynder called to Spyro. The purple dragon only nodded in agreement.

The two dragons began to fly lower, Cynder was about to circle down to a sheltered valley when she spotted something interesting.

"Hey Spyro, is that a town?"

Spyro looked up; curiosity temporarily restarted the minds of the two dragons.

"Looks like it."

The two dragons flew closer, it was indeed a town. The buildings were too small for dragons, but not sturdy enough to be built by moles. On the other hand they weren't the ramshackle all-purpose buildings that the Cheetahs tended to create.

The town was abandoned; the buildings were in a state of disrepair, some of the more central buildings had been burned down, what had been a town hall was thoroughly destroyed but most of the houses had been spared.

"Who lived here?" Cynder wondered as the two dragons set down in the town square.

"At a guess, the wolves." Spyro said.

"The wolves? I've ran into them a few times. They don't come this far to the west, it's too warm and too near to Warfang."

"The architecture is wolven, before the ice and fire wars the wolves did come this far west. It's actually Shattershelf they prefer to stay away from; the wolves are more neutral to Warfang. But I guess this place must have been abandoned for a while. The Wolves pulled back when the Ice dragons lost their war."

"Why?" Cynder asked.

"The wolves are suited to the cold; they survive in temperatures that are too dangerous for most dragons. The only dragons that can happily live in wolf territory are the ice dragons; it was beneficial to both sides to make an alliance."

"So the wolves fought in the war against the fire dragons?"

"Oh yes, and they were killed in the hundreds of thousands."

" _Hundreds of thousands!_ " Cynder repeated incredulously. "There were that many?"

"You do know about the five greater races, don't you?"

"Uh, no. Wait, it's the wolves, moles, apes, cheetahs and dragons, isn't it?"

"Yes, they're named the greater races because they have the most power in an economic, military or strategic sense, and each one has power for a different reason."

"What are the reasons?"

"The apes had their unity; before the ape king Gaul took control the apes were always agreed on ine side and could never be turned against each other. They were also masters of seigecraft, most of the catapults and siege towers used by the other races were designed by the apes."

"I thought those were made by moles." Cynder was curious, and the erudite purple dragon certainly seemed to know what he was talking about.

"They are, but they were made to ape specifications. The moles have their building skills, they build faster and more effectively than any of the other races, they have little military power but their services are highly sought after, only a few dragon masters have ever been able to build things that can compare to the moles, Darkmire's tomb is an example of dragon architecture."

"What about the Cheetahs, why are they so strong among the realms?"

"Pretty much because it's impossible to stop them from doing what they want to do. If they want to raid you then you'll get raided, if they want to move to another area they just do it. The Cheetahs are adaptable and powerful."

"Not as powerful as the dragons, right?"

"No, the dragons are unmatched among the five greater races and often called the master race, but each of the other races does something better than we do, the apes worked together, the cheetahs adapt, the moles build, and the wolves have their empire."

"That sounds dramatic, what do you mean empire?"

"Hundreds of thousands of wolves died in the ice and fire wars, but that is no more than a fragment of their population, the main wolf tribes are far to the northeast on the edge of the Legacy Sea, and according to some sources they number more than the other four races put together."

"How many would that be?"

"Millions."

"Millions?" Cynder could hardly begin to visualise such a large number, she didn't even know how many zeroes to put on the end of it.

"The wolves do their own thing, and they get along with the ice dragons, leaving the rest of us to our warmer climates. They have little interest in us and, just like you; most dragons can't stand the snow so we don't bother them either."

"Snow is awful."

"Don't worry Cynder; I'll protect you from the wicked snow." Spyro said with a teasing smile.

"Oh quit it." Cynder grumbled.

They chose to sleep in the open, in an old sheep paddock on the edge of the village. There were no sheep around, they had escaped and probably gone far away. Cynder decided that she couldn't care less where the sheep were.

The two dragons found a patch of softer grass and settled down. Spyro let tiredness overtake him and flopped to the ground. Cynder followed him to the ground, and then they curled up beside each other and fell asleep.

* * *

Cynder woke up late that afternoon. As she rose she brushed Spyro enough to wake him too. She looked around, but the landscape around them had become no more interesting over the day, it was still bare and boring.

"I am feeling really sore." Spyro complained. Cynder looked back at him.

"We've been flying for days, I'm not surprised."

"I'm sore all over." Spyro added.

"You got punched by me, hit with an axe and then squashed by a giant monster. I'm still not surprised."

"Yeah. How's your side?" Spyro asked.

Cynder stretched it carefully, being hit by a massive mace was generally considered a bad thing, but she had largely recovered from it. Dragons were tough.

"Not too bad."

"Uhh, you're lucky." Spyro groaned, slowly shuffling around to try to get up but unwilling to actually make an attempt at doing so.

"Would you like a massage?" Cynder asked.

Spyro sighed deeply.

"You are amazing Cynder, you know that right?"

"Of course I know that. I'll take that as a yes then?"

"Please."

Cynder walked around Spyro and lightly hopped up on his back. She spread her paws and gently stroked Spyro's back, tracing and admiring his lean muscles.

"You're tense." She told him. "This may hurt a little bit."

"It feels nice so far." Spyro said helpfully.

Cynder finished her caressing and got started on the massage itself, placing her feet carefully and pressing down until Spyro sighed with pleasure. She began to work; the movements of the method Imperia had taught her to massage were actually heavily based on the Way of Balance. That is, they were based on the modified version she practiced, the original version did not require the extremely specific pattern of steps and graceful twisting pivots that made the massage so effective.

Spyro groaned happily as Cynder worked her magic, he felt so lucky to have someone as wonderful as she was.

Cynder smiled, seeing Spyro react like this to her attentions was delightfully rewarding. She savoured the moment as she carefully did her dance like pattern. She could feel the effect she was having on him, not just in the pleasant buzz of his happy humming but in his muscles themselves. She could feel Spyro relax; she found the massage relaxed her too, stretching her body out comfortably.

After an indeterminable, but pleasantly long, amount of time Cynder was quite sure she'd done as much as she could for Spyro. She had done all of his major muscle groups and pressure points and she couldn't find any tension or soreness left in his body, after that she stopped doing specific techniques and just did whatever Spyro most seemed to enjoy.

Spyro's paws caught her tail, she let him keep it. Spyro shuffled around under her a bit, moving into a more comfortable position.

Unexpectedly Spyro gently bit down on Cynder's tail, she turned to look at him. Spyro grinned at her and she sighed in amusement.

"Yes, that would be mine."

"Mhmny mngur" Spyro replied.

"Did you just say 'not any longer'?" Cynder asked, doubtful of her translation.

Spyro nodded happily, gently chewing on Cynder's tail.

"I'll want it back eventually." Cynder told him.

Spyro shook his head playfully.

Cynder lay down beside Spyro and he tucked his wing over her. She shrouded her tail in shadows and stole it back from him. Spyro snapped after it playfully, and then nudged Cynder with his nose.

"You don't need to content yourself with just my tail; you have all of me." Cynder said quietly to Spyro. He licked her cheek.

"I adore you, Cynder. And that was amazing, thankyou."

"It was a pleasure." Cynder smiled.

"Should we spend the night here as well?" Spyro asked, glancing up at the darkening sky.

"I think so. We should take a proper break from flying; we've done plenty over these past days."

Spyro nuzzled her and shifted so that Cynder was resting on his side, he laid his paw on her waist and Cynder sighed in pleasure at the touch. Spyro was so warm and gentle and his body was so firm, she felt completely content. The two dragons snuggled up together.

"I have all of you?" Spyro asked, giving the black dragoness a squeeze. Cynder smiled playfully.

"I can prove it, if you'd like that."

* * *

It was before dawn the next day when Cynder woke. She used her shadows to get up without waking Spyro, and began to wash and preen herself as she usually did in the mornings. Cynder smelled strongly of Spyro and she liked that. She inspected her scales and body before licking herself clean, she enjoyed washing herself. She flexed and tucked her wings, flicked her tail and stretched out her muscles.

After a few minutes Cynder realised the sun would be rising soon. She looked around for a place to watch it from, eventually deciding on a nearby hill. She went to climb the hill but before she had gotten very far she felt a tug on her neck as she reached the end of the chain that bound her to Spyro.

She looked back, seeing Spyro roll to his feet in alarm before he realised what had happened. He looked around and spotted Cynder, then trotted over to her.

"Did you forget about this chain?" He asked, and then he yawned widely.

"Yes, I'm sorry I woke you." Cynder said.

"That's okay. Where were you going?"

"I was going to watch the sunrise." Cynder said.

"Next time wake me up first. I like sunrises." Spyro said with a smile.

The two dragons walked to the top of the hill and sat there waiting for the sun. Spyro's yawn proved contagious, Cynder closed her eyes and yawned.

Before her eyes opened again she felt Spyro kiss her gently. She returned the kiss, not bothering to open her eyes anymore, the two dragons sat for a while enjoying the intimate moment, before breaking off their kiss and looking at the slowly lightening horizon.

"I love you Cynder."

"I love you too." Cynder said with a gentle smile as she rubbed her side against Spyro's warm body.

As sunrises went it wasn't a very impressive one, the pale sun merely brightened the sky to a shade of faint yellow, and the spreading light revealed all of the breathtaking glory of a rather boring landscape.

Spyro and Cynder gave up watching it halfway though and just went back to kissing each other.

Rather than fly on their way the dragon couple decided to walk for a while to give their wings a chance to rest. Walking was slow and the views of the landscape they were travelling over were no more interesting from close range, but Spyro and Cynder found it peaceful to spend time on the ground for a change.

Cynder worked on her sexy walk as they travelled. She knew she had the basics of the sexy walk properly done. Placing her feet lightly, swishing her hips and involving her tail in a sinuous full body wave. She posed slightly on each step, but still kept the fluidity of her walk. It wasn't all that difficult to do, but it required more thought and focus then Cynder's normal practical fighter's walk. Cynder had always walked with grace, adapting to the sensual movements was quite easy. Imperia had wanted her to learn, Cynder had proven quite talented.

Spyro could hardly take his eyes off her. He walked into three shrubs in as many minutes.

Eventually Cynder got tired of walking.

"Spyro. Can I have a ride?"

"Sure." He said.

Cynder skipped up and stood on Spyro's back, he remained still for her until the slender dragoness had settled down. Cynder found a comfortable way to drape herself over Spyro, resting her head on his. Spyro folded his wings up to make her more comfortable and then started walking again.

Cynder enjoyed the gentle rocking motion of Spyro's walking, relaxing herself. Spyro couldn't help but smile.

* * *

Eventually Cynder went back to walking again, Spyro began making small roses of fire rather like the one he had done in the catacombs. Cynder watched with interest.

"Where did you learn to do that?" She asked.

"Flare taught it to me. It's a control exercise that doesn't take much power." Spyro created another little flower. It hung in the air above them for several seconds before fading. "Part of the challenge is making them last as long as possible."

Cynder nodded. She watched Spyro's next fire flower for a second before deciding to try something.

Spyro hissed in annoyance as the fire flared up and messed up his rose. He made another one and it flared up too. Cynder giggled, she giggled more when she saw Spyro's accusing but playful expression.

"Are you trying to make this more difficult?" Spyro asked with an amused scowl.

"I was trying to help, I swear." Cynder said around her giggling.

"Help? How?"

"Well the flowers run out of air because they're folded in on themselves don't they? I was trying to feed the fire with wind."

"Can that even happen?" Spyro asked.

"You're the fire dragon, you tell me."

"Let's try again."

Spyro made a flower, Cynder wrapped wind magic around it; it flared up softly but maintained its shape. The dragons stopped walking to watch it, each focusing on part of the magic required to keep it floating there.

Five seconds, then ten, then fifteen and it were still floating there.

"Even Flare herself can only create one of these for forty five seconds." Spyro said.

"We're nearly there then." Cynder said.

After some more time had passed Spyro smiled.

"There goes the record. That's easily more than fifty seconds."

"Poor Flare, her student has surpassed her."

Spyro laughed.

"Not even close. Flare may not be able to create fire for this long, but she can do insanely complicated shapes and movements. I'm not even close to her level of fine control."

"I'm sure you'll get there."

"I will, and sooner rather than later." Spyro assured her. He stopped paying attention to his fire flower and it faded.

"Do dragons use magic in combination often?" Cynder asked.

"Not really. It's very dependant of the trust the dragons have in each other and often it's limited by the elements of the dragons that use it."

"We hardly have that problem." Cynder noted.

"I don't think so."

"But flowers probably won't help us against Malefor." Cynder said.

"You never know. We can add it to the list."

"We really should work out a way to defeat him."

"Oh yes, I was going to try to teach you about Dragon time."

"You were." Cynder agreed.

"Right."

Spyro paused.

"Yes?" Cynder asked eventually.

"I'm trying to think. I don't really know how to teach."

Spyro thought for a bit longer.

"I guess this is a bit like explaining wind magic, it's hard. Can you feel time at all?"

"Feel time? That's not helpful." Cynder said teasingly.

"I'm sorry. It'll probably be in your belly, if you focus you should feel a sort of tingle." Spyro reached out and put his paw on Cynder's belly. "Somewhere around here?"

The black dragoness laughed.

"You're tickling me." She said. After a few seconds Spyro removed his paw, but there was still sensation there. "I'm getting a sort of buzz." Cynder said.

"Is it a _tingly_ buzz?" Spyro asked.

"I suppose so." Cynder said. It was the same sort of feeling she'd gotten when Spyro had used dragon time in her presence before.

"Okay, now let that feeling expand around you, it should spread out all around you."

Cynder tried to do what Spyro told her and she felt it working, she was doing something right. It was no longer a buzz like it had been; it was more like Cynder's wind magic then she had expected, just like she could always sense the air around her and anything moving in it, here she could feel a gentle pressure on everything.

There was one thing Cynder was suddenly aware of that she hadn't been before, and that was Spyro. Well she'd known he was there of course, but when she focused on him she found something unusual about his presence. He seemed to be a step removed from time, as if time was a river and he was floating on a boat, or possibly he was just floating on a log, but whatever analogy Cynder used Spyro was certainly something distinct from the rest of the world. So was she, Cynder realised, did all dragon time users have this sort of effect on them?

"Are you feeling it?" Spyro asked.

Cynder nodded.

"You seem differently effected by time, or is that just normal for all living creatures?" Cynder asked.

"Not quite. All dragons are like this, but no other creatures."

"So all dragons are weird in time?" Cynder asked.

"That's one of the oddest sentences I've heard in a while." Spyro said. "But as far as I know yes."

"Do you know why?"

"No. I haven't found any books to read up on dragon time theory; I've just had to work out the practical side myself."

"Perhaps we can ask Malefor."

"That would be an interesting conversation wouldn't it?" Spyro said with a smile.

"I'd say so." Cynder agreed.

"He might even know. We actually should do that." Spyro said.

"And that's why I suggested it." Cynder pointed out.

"Fair enough. So back to dragon time, can you feel time around you?"

"Yes it feels a lot like wind magic."

Spyro blinked.

"Really?"

"Yes, why?"

"No particular reason, it's just that Imperia tried to teach me wind magic. She thought if I could learn it then it would support her bid for a fifth guardian element."

"I think that wind probably is a fifth guardian element. Imperia is quite persuasive and she'll probably become a guardian sometime in the future. But you weren't able to unlock any dormant element, were you?" Cynder said.

"No, but I think that maybe we were trying to find it in the wrong way." Spyro shook his head. "We'll come back to that, in fact-" Spyro grinned. "We'll just ask Malefor!"

"Forget our list of how to kill him, let's just make a list of what we want to ask him." Cynder said.

"Okay, so you can feel time. It's a bit like a pressure, right? I'd say it's a bit like being caught in light rain."

"It's a sensation that's really like wind magic, and yes light rain does describe the feeling."

"Okay, so now I want you to make it stop. I haven't really done great explaining anything up to this bit but you've still done it all perfectly. I think you should just follow your instincts. Just stop the pressure and stop time. If you squeeze it and control it then it should all just… slow down for you."

Cynder followed her instincts, trying to catch the feeling of pressure and control it. After a long moment she felt the world flicker purple. Spyro tilted his head, pleased, Cynder looked at him and he gave an encouraging nod. Cynder focused again and turned the world purple. Spyro smiled in approval.

It wasn't exactly hard to maintain Dragon time it a typical sense, there was no effort involved, but she could sense that she wasn't going to be able to hold it for long. Cynder quickly picked up a pawful of dust and scattered it, watching with fascination as it fell ever so slowly towards the ground. She reached out and picked most of it straight out of the air, she looked at it in her paw and then blew on it, and it scattered immediately but slowed down again the moment it was out of direct contact with Cynder's breath.

She grabbed it out of the air for a third time and held it before rapidly dropping her paw down again. The pawful of compacted dirt began to fall in slow motion, then the world returned to its normal shade and the dirt finished its fall normally.

Spyro was smiling brilliantly; he advanced on Cynder and kissed her firmly. Cynder responded with equal enthusiasm, feeling only blissful happiness for a moment before tentatively stretching her tongue into Spyro's mouth. His met hers and the two dragons traded saliva, engaging in gentle play before stepping up to full scale making out.

* * *

As Spyro and Cynder flew again, back on their way to Shattershelf, they learnt that they could combo with their respective dragon times, while one needed to recharge the other was able to use their own power to maintain both of them in dragon time. If Spyro started dragon time and Cynder took over just before he had to let it go then the two dragons could manage about four minutes of slowed time in total.

After they had flown for a little while Spyro decided to bring up the topic of multiple personalities, which had been creeping around in the back of his mind since he had briefly lost control of his power when he had seen Cynder hurt.

"Cynder?"

"Yes?"

"I'll understand if you don't want to talk about it or if you just can't remember, but I was wondering if you remembered actually having multiple personalities like Gracious claimed you did."

Cynder frowned, thinking about the question.

"I can't really be sure. You might know better than I do, Gracious said that the end of our little spat in Convexity was when Malefor arranged to have you defeat my bad side."

"Yes. Well to start that was a bit more than a _spat_ ; you tried to kill me and Sparx in what would probably have been horrible ways."

"Love at first fight." Cynder said playfully.

"Well first impressions are important." Spyro said with a smile. "Now that I think about it there was a moment right at the end of the fight…"

"So just before when you started to beat me up mercilessly?" Cynder teased.

"Umm, yes, just before that bit. And you sort of changed and used different energy attacks to what you'd done before, if Gracious was referring to that, and I think he might have been, it makes most of his story hold up as being true."

"We know that you have a dark side, and if I did too then Malefor probably does as well. It all seems to work out." Cynder said.

"I can't really believe that Malefor could plan both of our lives, and game with the future of the whole world."

"It's audacious." Cynder admitted. She could help but be rather impressed. That someone could even conceive of a plan like that, let alone pull it off, was quite spectacular.

"It's crazy; he arranged even his own death just to kill his dark side."

* * *

"They lived." Gracious stalked into the chamber.

He was in no mood to behave with obeisance, he was furious. One could hardly help but want to bow before Malefor; the purple dragon's presence alone commanded respect and Gracious would willingly have given it to him before now, but not this time.

Malefor was deep in thought, sitting with his tail coiled around him and idly tapping his claws on a chessboard. Where the chessboard had come from, Gracious didn't know, and right now he didn't care.

"My brother died. My little brother is dead."

Malefor looked up at him; there was sadness in his eyes.

"I know."

"Of course you do." Gracious hissed. "You _planned_ it! Spyro made a comment, you know; he laughed and said we served a dragon who constantly arranged for his generals to lose. He was right wasn't he? You let my brother die."

"Yes, I did." Malefor said calmly.

Gracious snarled and blurred forwards, he was just as fast as his brother had been, perhaps even faster, the long spike of ice he created halted millimetres from Malefor's gleaming purple eye. The purple dragon did not even flinch, didn't twitch or make any move to defend himself.

"I did not think you would really do it." Malefor said, as he watched the ice dragon try to bring himself to make the attack. "But your brother would have."

Gracious stared. The ice spike wavered and then was lowered. Gracious stepped back.

"You know I'm telling the truth." Malefor said softly.

Gracious believed him, and so he should have, because it was indeed the truth. But Malefor had not let Seth die simply because he was violent.

Malefor was a genius at disguising his plans. Seemingly random moves were always in advancement of an underlying strategy. Gracious didn't know what Malefor was thinking, and Malefor made sure it stayed that way.

"Like Thoran and the ape king Gaul, like Magmar, those who cannot leave this world in peace will be made to leave this world themselves."

"Seth wasn't like them." Gracious said, unsure. "He wasn't a monster. Was he?"

Malefor allowed a crack to show in his calm demeanour, he hesitated for a moment.

"He was not irredeemable, not like Thoran or Gaul. But he was savage, inefficient and he cared nothing for collateral damage."

Gracious spotted Malefor's hesitation and realised that the purple dragon was keeping something from him. Malefor carefully contained his smile, all of these false leads to obscure the only part of his plan that he didn't want Gracious to question.

"What are you hiding from me? What did my brother do that was so horrible?"

Gracious had fallen for the bait, just as Malefor had expected he would. The ice dragon was clever, but Malefor knew how to deal with clever dragons.

"May we discuss something else?" Malefor asked with gentle politeness.

Gracious nodded and bowed, all of his anger was gone now, completely crushed out of him. The look on his face was so broken that Malefor couldn't help but feel sympathy for the grieving and confused dragon.

"Some things are better left unsaid." The ice dragon said quietly.

Malefor nodded sympathetically, this was just too easy. There was only one dragon he'd never be able to fool, and that certainly wasn't Gracious.

The ice dragon was silent for a while. Malefor was silent as well, to allow the other dragon time to think, but he didn't want to leave him like this. He decided to offer Gracious some comfort.

"Seth may have been misguided, but he loved you, I know he did. The death of every dragon is a sadness… even that of dragons like Thoran, when Magmar dies I shall mourn him too. But Seth was special, he believed in a world that would be better than this one is, and his life really did mean a great deal."

Malefor bowed his head. He had done his best for the ice dragon. There was a sniffle, he looked over and realised that Gracious was crying.

He had lost his brother. Malefor could understand why he cried.

"I am sorry, Gracious."

"You did what you had to do. I understand that… Malefor."

Malefor glanced down at his chessboard. He thoughtfully nudged a piece one square across the board and smiled to himself, satisfied. That made things easier for him.

Gracious nodded to himself, trying and failing to fight back his tears. He drew breath and added a few more words.

"And thankyou."

* * *

 **"The finest lies are woven from threads of truth."**


	20. Back Again

**Merry Christmas everyone!**

 **Special music choices for you this time: Christmas songs! But they're good at any time of the year, so please listen to them anyway.**

 **All I Want for Christmas is You, by Mariah Carey. (There's another version that I prefer, but I can't recall where I heard it and it's a bit annoying...) This is a song without religious overtones or baby Jesus, but it's about a different side of Christmas, and it's a romantic song.**

 **Do they Know it's Christmas? Band Aid (the 1984 version is definitely the best one.) This song is definitely worth a listen, it's not a classical Christmas song, but it has beautiful music and a message worth thinking about.**

 **Story now:**

* * *

"What's wrong?"

Seizo looked up as Miasma approached him, he was glad she'd showed up at that moment, he had been just starting to get frustrated and she had always and would always make him feel better. He gave her a smile, she returned it shyly.

"Nothing's wrong really. I was just thinking."

"Are you playing chess against yourself? Warfang isn't as interesting without Spyro here, and I also want to talk more with Cynder too, she seems really nice."

Miasma sat down next to the young earth dragon, Seizo wanted to put his wing around her like Spyro had done for Cynder, but he also didn't want to make her uncomfortable at all, so he just touched his tail against hers instead.

"I'm not exactly playing chess. I'm just using the board to help me think. Malefor almost seems to be playing a game against us, he practically threw Thoran at Warfang. It was a deliberate move, like a sacrificial piece, and I can't help but feel that he did it to further some plan."

"So you're sort of playing against Malefor?" Miasma asked.

"Well, Warfang's not as interesting when Spyro's gone. Malefor could be good challenge."

Miasma looked at the board. Seizo had used only black pieces, and the positions seemed to be random, not like a normal game of chess.

"The pieces aren't divided into black and white." Miasma noted.

"Neither is life." Seizo said. He moved a piece, Miasma watched him think.

She had always loved his mind; she could almost see it working behind his eyes, watching them flicker around, never remaining still for long as new thoughts constantly occurred to him. She enjoyed trying to decode his thoughts; their shared love of puzzles had been one of the things that had drawn them together from the start.

She returned her attention to the chessboard, using the movement to edge ever so slightly towards him, they were almost touching. One of them would only need to reach out. Seizo moved the same piece he had moved before back to its first position, and then sighed.

Miasma recognised that he'd run out of thoughts for that moment. She could talk without distracting him now. Seizo didn't mind her interrupting, she knew her conversation was welcome at any time, but she still didn't like being disruptive at all.

"So what do each of the pieces mean?" Miasma asked, trying to make sense of the board. She did like puzzles, perhaps she could help.

"Each one represents one of the major players in this game. There's Malefor, Thoran was here but his piece has been sacrificed and removed now. Malefor has the ability to create an army of orcs, pawns really, but if he hasn't used them on us then where are they? The guardians have pieces. Flare isn't with them because she went to Shattershelf just after Spyro and Cynder left. Spyro and Cynder should have reached Darkmire's tomb by now, I've left their piece there because I can't tell where they're going next."

Seizo indicated the piece that marked Spyro and Cynder.

"Why are Spyro and Cynder represented by just one piece?" Miasma asked, the symbolism of that had a romantic quality to it, she thought it was a nice representation of their unity but she doubted that was why Seizo had done it.

"Because of the chain that was put on them. I've given our traitor a piece as well." Seizo tapped another piece. "Now Spyro and Cynder can't separate, can't travel alone, it makes them easier to predict and control. Good strategy, I can see why Malefor found the chain so useful."

Miasma mused on that for a while.

"I thought Cynder was very nice too." Seizo said spontaneously. "Spyro had never been exaggerating about her."

"What?" Miasma asked, surprised by the change in topic.

"You mentioned Cynder when you sat down, I didn't really answer because I was distracted, sorry about that. I thought I'd bring it up again now. So what did you and Cynder talk about? You seemed to get along."

"Ah, well…" Miasma glanced away shyly. "We talked about you…"

Seizo blinked.

"Really? All good things I hope. Or at least about forty percent good things? Forty percent is a nice amount."

"Closer to sixty percent good things." Miasma said, with a little smile. Before she could let her nerves get the better of her she nudged Seizo with her shoulder and allowed the contact to linger for a second.

They sat there for a while longer, neither one saying anything.

"We used to talk easier than this." Seizo said. Miasma smiled.

"Before you admitted that you liked me."

"We can go back to just being friends, if you want. Just being around you is enough for me."

"No. I don't want to. We just need to work it out. We can start with… this." Miasma properly leant across and rested her shoulder against Seizo; he curled his tail around her and gave her a smile.

"This is a good start." He tucked his wing over Miasma and she hummed happily. "What do you think about Imperia?" He asked.

"Do you mean about her now being the first Wind Guardian in dragon history, or about her and Volteer finally officially getting together?"

"Either. Both."

"Imperia always seems to be in a good mood, you know what she's like, but I still think she's never been happier. I'm really happy for her and Volteer."

"What about Flare?" Seizo asked. "All three of them have been doing a sort of 'will they or wont they' thing for ages now, everyone can see it, even Spyro could."

"I think that they're an absolutely adorable couple. Flare might play at being offended, but she'll join them soon enough. The three of them were always going to get together eventually."

"You seem to have this all worked out."

"It's like a puzzle. I've learnt this whole predicting other dragons thing from _you_ anyway." Miasma smiled, gently poking fun.

Seizo nodded, that was a fair point.

"So how is Volteer?"

"Volteer's injuries from his fight with Thoran have just about healed, Imperia hadn't left his bedside for most of that time but he was released yesterday."

"And Cyril immediately had him up in front of half of Warfang as part of the official selection ceremony for Imperia being Wind Guardian."

"No, you misremember." Miasma laughed, Seizo felt her laughing through his side, and it was a nice sensation. "Volteer _hadn't_ been discharged from care before the ceremony, but Cyril just made sure he was there anyway, so it was 'done properly' according to him. Then he sent Volteer back off to the healers before the actual celebration. It put Cyril in a bit of a ruffle that Flare was all the way away at Shattershelf, but even he couldn't demand that she come back for this."

"What's the news on the other dragon? The earth dragon who arrived from Darkmire's Tomb a few days ago?"

"Nestoc is his name, I found out he's actually Flora's older brother, she and Cyria have been looking after him. He was in no condition to tell us what happened there when he arrived, but he's recovered a lot over this morning- oh!"

"What is it?"

"I am so sorry; I completely forgot why I came here! The guardians will be talking to Nestoc in half an hour, Terrador wanted you to come. Cyria told me a bit of what she heard when Nestoc woke up; Sparx started questioning him the moment Nestoc opened his eyes until he was told to stop. Apparently Nestoc knows where Spyro and Cynder are going. He said something about Malefor having a test for them."

"A test… I wonder…" Seizo rapidly moved Spyro and Cynder's piece, then put a pawn on the board. "I'll need to talk to Nestoc."

"Let's go then."

Seizo got up and offered his paw to Miasma; she took it with a shy but grateful smile.

"Malefor has been too many moves ahead of us this whole time. It's time for us to cut his lead."

"The game is on." Miasma said.

"Yes it is."

* * *

It grew warmer as Spyro and Cynder flew. Spyro knew they'd end up in a desert eventually but he wasn't entirely certain of exactly how far away Shattershelf was. The boring landscape below them got barer and more battered until it stopped being boring and somehow took on a look of wild bleak beauty.

They were following the mountain range southwest. This was the same mountain range that the Catacombs were built underneath; at this point the far side of the mountain range would be desert.

The deserts had once been the territory of the Peacekeepers, before the fire dragons had claimed them. Shattershelf had once been known as Cliff Town, a village of moderate importance to the peacekeepers, but which possessed a great deal of untapped strategic value.

Firstly was its location, relatively near to both Warfang and two of the major mountainside cities that belonged to the ice dragons. One of these ice dragon cities was now destroyed, but the other had surrendered to the fire dragons and been allowed to survive, despite this it was now barely occupied as the ice dragons who had lived there retreated to colder and safer holdings after the end of the war. The mountains around what had once been Cliff Town were very difficult to fly over, the same mountain range extended right the way to the Catacombs and the pass in which the town had been built was the easiest route by which to cross.

The immediate location around the town had also made it very valuable; it was certainly the most perfectly defensible location within the fire dragon territory. The town had been built on the side of a huge cliff; which was where it's original name had come from, obviously enough. A ground attack was extremely difficult because of the awkward terrain, the lack of external city walls that it was possible to besiege and formidable defences that had been designed by the apes that the fire dragons were allied to. An air attack was next to pointless as the fire dragons had extended their construction into the side of the rock until the city was almost entirely buried into the stone.

Below Shattershelf were the ice caverns which, as Spyro explained brightly to Cynder, were quite different from the ice _cave_ Darkmire's Tomb had been built inside of. The caverns had a huge store of fresh water frozen within them, enough to last years, if not even longer. Shattershelf had never been infiltrated by or betrayed to an enemy, fighting there without knowledge of the city's defences was considered impossible, but gaining that knowledge was equally implausible. This all added up to a fortress that it was really quite hopeless to besiege. It would be difficult, dangerous and slow to bring the city to its knees.

Spyro and Cynder did not hurry unduly, but they didn't delay either. They didn't know what they would find when they arrived, a warm welcome was unlikely. A burning hot one was much more probable, and that was if the city wasn't in a pitched battle when they got there.

The ground got steadily dryer until there was almost no plant life left. Spyro and Cynder found the mountain pass and flew through it. The pass was much nicer than the one to Darkmire's tomb, it was wide and the views of the mountains were rather nice. Emerging on the far side of the mountain range the two dragons found themselves on the edge of Fire dragon territory.

Shattershelf rose before them, it was built on a mountain that stood somewhat apart from the range, the steep cliffs of this mountain were dotted with the ruined remains of the old buildings from Cliff Town, they had not been repaired after their destruction; the fire dragons had remade the city themselves with the help of the Apes. A massive crack in the stone split the mountain into two parts and the city had been carved from the stone deep within. It was clear that the name Shattershelf had been given to the city because of the broken appearance of the rock. There was also a swift flowing clear stream fed by a waterfall that must have had a spring somewhere further around the mountain's slope, to the right of where the two dragons approached from. Most of the buildings of old cliff town where on the far side of that river, even further to the right, the part of the mountain that had been used as the centre of Shattershelf was in a different spot.

Watchtowers and hard battlements patched over the mountainside were the only things that gave hints at just how large this city might be. The flat ground before the city had been carefully broken up by mighty walls that divided the space. These walls had been designed and built by the Apes. Spyro didn't know why that had been done, it would be part of a defence of some sort that he wasn't able to discern, but they certainly looked impressive.

"You would be unwise to fly any further."

Spyro and Cynder turned around. A fire dragoness had taken wing from a watchtower above the pass and followed them.

"Can we still visit?" Spyro called.

The dragoness looked at Spyro and recognised him immediately.

"The purple dragon of Warfang. Spyro, I'm glad to meet you again."

"Do I know you?"

"Perhaps not by name. I am Asha, sister to Magmar. We met briefly after you were victorious against my brother in the colosseum."

Spyro tilted his head, and then nodded.

"I remember that. You were with him in the meeting with the guardians."

Asha nodded in confirmation.

"Why are you here?"

"Your city has been threatened by Malefor; we believe he has raised an army to kill your brother and anyone around him. We came to warn you and help if we can."

The fire dragoness hovered above them for a second, thinking.

"Very well, I shall escort you inside, but expect no welcome. _She_ in particular should exercise caution while here."

Cynder didn't deign to answer that. In Warfang she had been hurt by the cruelty of other dragons because she had wanted nothing more than to be accepted by them. Now she had Spyro and Miasma who accepted her, as well as Volteer and Imperia. Perhaps Seizo and Cyria too, but she hadn't spoken to them nearly as much. She couldn't care less about the dragons of Shattershelf.

Spyro, on the other hand, was protective of the black dragoness he loved so much.

"They'll answer to me if they so much as _look_ at Cynder the wrong way. Also I assure you that nobody wants to know what will happen if they lay a claw on her."

"Relax Spyro. Don't get mad about it. I don't care what the Shattershelf dragons think about me."

"Well I do."

"I can look after myself." Cynder told Spyro.

"I know you can." He sighed. "But it's just not fair, it wasn't your fault and you shouldn't be treated like it was."

The fire dragoness, Asha, looked over.

"I have seen no reason to blame you for the past Cynder. I didn't make myself clear to you; I only wanted to warn you both."

"It was the Dark Master. That's who was to blame. Your brother should hate him." Spyro said.

"He does, I promise you that. If Malefor comes to Shattershelf then Magmar will do anything and everything in his power to kill him."

Spyro considered mentioning that Malefor and the Dark Master were different individuals, but decided not to waste his effort explaining it.

* * *

The three dragons flew over the walls on the plain, the walls made a series of subdivided areas that expanded outward from the main gate into the city. Cynder was sure that when she had been under the control of the Dark Master it was here on this walled plain that she had swept down on the dragons and apes fleeing for safety, she didn't like the idea of flying over this place for a second time. Asha, Spyro and Cynder landed at a small entryway. Asha waited there for a few seconds, then the door slowly opened and they were allowed in.

A relatively young fire dragon stood on the other side of the door, he was about the same age that Nestoc was; he bowed to Asha and then watched Spyro and Cynder curiously. They kept walking.

The tunnels of Shattershelf were wide and well-constructed, they were direct and had few turns or curves. The walls themselves, however, were smooth, rounded, with a melted sort of ripple pattern. The city hadn't been carved like Cynder had first assumed, but for the most part had in fact been burned right out of the stone. There were some parts that had been carved, for example around the gates, doorways and in the larger chambers where fire dragons gathered.

Architecture designed in circles wasn't specific to the Warfang dragons, each of the large rooms that Spyro, Asha and Cynder passed through were circular. They varied in size; some were large and busy with lots of passages leading in and out of them. Others were smaller and more out of the way; dragons were relaxing or talking in some of those smaller rooms.

There were no apes in any of the rooms, but there was some evidence of ape living in Shattershelf, the couple passed some ape sized doorways and drinking fountains. Cynder noticed the absence of the apes but she wasn't sure why they weren't there, or where they were.

"So because Magmar is your brother, what does that make you?" Spyro asked as they walked.

"It makes me nothing." Asha said dismissively. Spyro frowned, puzzled, so she explained. "Family has no bearing on rank here. I had thought it was the same in Warfang."

"Yes it is. I just assumed that because the fire dragons were ruled by a monarchy you would have a title of some sort."

"I do have a title, lady Asha, as of this time I am second in command of the city, but that has nothing to do with me having my brother's favour. I'm just the second strongest and second highest ranked fire dragon here." Asha paused before another thought occurred to her. "Technically I may be the third strongest."

"You aren't counting me, are you? I'm not strong with my fire element specifically. I just have competence in four elements." Spyro said.

"No, I am aware of that. I was referring to the Fire Guardian, Flare, who is currently staying in Shattershelf with us."

"Flare is here?" Spyro asked, surprised. "Why?"

"To help create a better relationship between our cities, it was decided in the peace treaty we made, but you may have missed that bit."

"I suppose so." Spyro said. "Can we see her?"

"Certainly. She'll be with Magmar at the moment and the other Warfang dragons are around the city, I have not kept track of all of them."

"How many Warfang dragons are here?"

"Nine. Flare chose to bring along some of her students as well as some of the older fire dragons. The young ones have gotten along quite well with the young dragons here. I feel Flare has been remarkably successful in her attempt to create goodwill between us."

"So if you're the third strongest then who's the strongest fire dragon here at present?" Spyro asked curiously.

"I have lost to Flare in sparring, and once is certainly enough. I respect her skills and I don't mean to challenge her again. Magmar has not chosen to face her in competition. I pray that he doesn't, I have no wish to see that fight."

Spyro remembered discussing Magmar fighting each of the guardians, he and Cynder had talked about it. He hadn't been able to guess who would win out of Flare and Magmar.

"Why not?"

"It's far too emotionally charged, no matter who won the aftereffects of it would quite probably lead to the death of your emissaries here, and we won't start a war when we have such questionable odds of winning, it is not noble."

"That's fair enough." Spyro said.

The fire dragoness stopped and looked at him. Spyro frowned, trying to work out what she was thinking.

"You are an unusual dragon. Spyro."

"Umm, thanks… I think. Is that a compliment?"

"Yes, it is. Come, I'll take you to Magmar and Flare."

The two dragons followed Asha again. Cynder noticed the looks they were getting from the fire dragons around them. Distrust, hints of fear, and of course anger. The emotion wasn't just directed at Cynder, there was plenty enough for Spyro too.

Clearly they were not popular here.

One fire dragon smiled at them and greeted Spyro by name. He introduced himself as Raze, a dragon from Warfang who had travelled to Shattershelf with Flare. He joined their group and walked with them confidently. Cynder had to respect him for his ability to cope with the unfriendly stares he got for doing so. She vaguely recalled this dragon not being especially nice to her in the past, but while Raze coped with the stares well he was not entirely unaffected.

"If I ever behaved like this around you then I want to apologise for it." Raze said to Cynder. "I had no idea how it felt to have other dragons look at me this way. It's not nice."

"You learn to deal with it, after a while it mostly stops hurting you inside, mostly. You're doing well so far. I don't remember for sure if you specifically ever did this to me, but I'm thankful for your apology."

The group of dragons came to a big heavy door. Asha spoke to Spyro and Cynder.

"He will not be pleased to see you. I fear my brother may be unstable, his behaviour and threats towards Cynder while we were in Warfang suggest he has a specific fixation for vengeance against you."

"It was a bit suggestive." Cynder agreed.

"I advised him to keep his silence, but Magmar ignored me when he spoke to you."

"You heard that?" Cynder asked. She recalled that Imperia had used wind magic to listen in on her conversation with Magmar, but she hadn't realised that Magmar's sister had been able to hear them too.

"Yes. In fact I was the one who asked if there was a way to hear what he said."

Cynder was surprised, she hadn't expected that. Before she or Spyro could make any comment Asha had turned back to the door.

The fire dragoness knocked hard on the door, it made an echoing thud.

"Enter."

They entered.

* * *

The room was large; it had been entirely carved and constructed from stone, without any of it burned with fire. On one side there were three deep set windows that looked out at the flat ground at the base of the city. Cynder realised that they must be in a room behind one of the external battlements that they had seen from the air outside.

There were six pillars; three on each side and at the far end of the room was what could arguably be called a throne.

Despite having dexterous forepaws and being perfectly capable of standing on two legs, dragons were primarily quadrupedal and therefore had no interest in chairs like those used by many of the other races. Magmar's throne reminded Cynder of Gaul's throne. In fact the fire king's entire aesthetic look was rather similar to that of the ruler of the apes.

Magmar's throne had been carved out of the rock of the chamber, Cynder wondered if it had been made before the fire dragon had become king of his kind or after. The throne was made of hard angles and sharp looking points; it framed the fire king quite well and made him look even more intimidating then he already had been.

A respectful distance behind the throne stood Flare.

The fire dragoness looked over at them curiously as the door opened and her features expressed surprise when she saw who had come before Magmar.

Flare's unusual walk was as mesmerising as ever, Cynder watched her skip across the chamber towards them. As she watched Flare she felt an uncomfortable burning sort of sensation and realised that Magmar's red eyes had locked onto her.

Spyro stepped forwards, putting himself between Magmar and Cynder. Cynder was glad that he was there. She was fearful, but not terrified, of the physical threat posed by the huge fire dragon. There was no doubt Magmar was dangerous but Cynder was certain that she could take care of herself, however she found Magmar's specific hatred of her disturbing and intimidating. She didn't want to gain any more attention from that sinister dragon then she had to, so she shrank back slightly and took refuge behind Spyro.

Flare nodded politely to Asha, before smiling warmly at Raze, Cynder and Spyro.

"Despite these unusual circumstances I am very glad to see you again so soon, Spyro. I don't doubt you'll have a story to tell us."

"Yes, well, I have some information for you." Spyro said. He looked at Magmar. The huge fire dragon considered him for a moment then inclined his head.

"Say what you have come to say." He said. His voice was even and calm, but every dragon in the room could feel menace hidden somewhere deep within it.

"There are some dragons in Warfang who believe that Malefor could return to life. We were sent to Darkmire's tomb, where Malefor's physical remains were buried, to find out if it was possible."

"Warfang trusted the black dragon with that task?" Magmar asked softly.

"Yes." Spyro said firmly, making it clear that they were not going to discuss the subject of Cynder. "And we found out that not only is it possible for Malefor to return, but that he has allies among dragonkind who have already brought him back. When we got there Malefor was gone and an electric dragon called Thoran had been released as well."

"Malefor has returned... Darkmire's tomb is several days' flight away. If what you say is true then why have we not felt the effects of his return by now?"

"We don't know. Perhaps he needs time to regain his power; perhaps he feels a direct attack isn't good strategy. We don't know why he hasn't come for you yet, but we do know that he is served by an ice dragon called Gracious who is totally determined to have revenge on you. They will come, I have no doubt."

"The ice dragons have allied with Malefor against us?" Magmar seemed only mildly interested, but nobody believed that casual reaction.

"Not the ice dragons, just this one. They have nothing to do with this."

"The ice dragons never work alone." Magmar said.

"He isn't. He has Malefor on his side." Spyro said carefully.

"I see. So you've come to warn us of this impending threat, a vengeful ice dragon and a dead purple dragon are coming to kill me, and by extension everyone in my city?"

"Yes." Spyro said, almost daring the huge red dragon to disagree.

There was no disagreement. Magmar instead responded with a savage grin that made everyone even more nervous than they had been before.

"Excellent."

* * *

Flare, Spyro, Cynder and Raze left the two Shattershelf dragons to talk. They were all glad to go; Flare and Raze led them to where the Warfang dragons were staying so they could arrange rooms for Spyro and Cynder. Spyro found that he couldn't put his most recent meeting with Magmar out of his mind; it just stayed there and demanded to be talked about.

He kept his voice low talking to Flare, Cynder and Raze, it wasn't the sort of conversation a wise dragon would have where they could be overheard.

"Magmar seems almost deranged, is he really the best dragon for the fire dragons to have as their king? Surely the idea of an army besieging your capital city would worry most reasonable rulers?"

Despite how risky the conversation could be if anyone overheard it Flare was willing to answer. They stopped talking whenever they passed any dragons.

"Dragons like Magmar are incomparable rulers in times of trouble. Dragons of his kind have an uncanny ability to pull victory from the jaws of defeat; he has tenacity, resourcefulness, determination and an almost limitless capacity for vengeance. In a word he's an avenger. Dragons like him have a tendency to hold grudges, but they also have a tendency to complete them."

"Not a dragon to mess with then."

"No indeed. But dragons like Magmar are often self-destructive; they're so good at what they do that they never get a chance to do anything else. They often meet sad fates, being unable to stop themselves from deteriorating. He would have been wise to step down at the end of the Ice and Fire wars and let a different dragon take his place, perhaps his sister would have been able to keep peace between us, but it's too late for that now."

"So he's so determined to kill the Dark Master that he doesn't even realise that he's now planning on starting a war he almost certainly won't win? Compared to Malefor he doesn't stand a chance."

"Magmar would disagree. Fighting in open battle has never been the greatest strength of the fire dragons; Shattershelf is where they're strongest. I feel that only by taking the field himself could Malefor muster enough power to pose a threat to this city. The combined strength of every dragon in Warfang would barely be enough to threaten this city. No army has ever come close. Magmar feels confident here for good reason."

"So you're saying the fire dragons lost the war against Warfang mostly because they weren't fighting at Shattershelf?"

"Correction, Magmar lost against you, the fire dragons most definitely didn't lose the war. They couldn't hand us a decisive defeat in the open field, we had no chance whatsoever of beating them in their own territory. It was a true standoff until Magmar wanted me dead and you outfought him. I still haven't thanked you for what you did, have I?"

"Don't thank me. I just didn't want you to be in danger." Spyro said, embarrassed.

"Nonsense, Spyro. You gave us our best chance at ending this peacefully, you deserve thanks for that, even if you felt you were honour bound to do it. Thank you, Spyro." Flare smiled.

Spyro continued to be embarrassed.

Flare raised her voice to a normal volume as they walked into a larger chamber from which several passages branched off.

"The rest of the dragons from Warfang have been staying down there." She pointed. "The dragon school here has a public training field that's often used by other dragons from the city; Raze has been spending a lot of time down there." Flare indicated another passage.

Raze nodded and spoke up.

"If you have time you should visit the training field Spyro, I've learnt some extraordinary things from the dragons who go there. The skill level of a dragon at the level of mastery here is astounding, they have developed fire magic in ways that most Warfang dragons could hardly imagine! I'll see you around, I hope you stop by."

"I'll do that." Spyro said. "It'll be a good learning experience."

Raze smiled and went down the tunnel to the training fields.

Flare nodded contentedly and then she turned to Spyro.

"Have you been keeping up your own training?"

"Uh, not really, no... I've had some time, but we've been a bit busy."

"You're an excellent student Spyro. Even the best of us slip up sometimes. I haven't been doing much training either."

Spyro laughed, Flare shrugged.

"We both have our excuses. Flying from Warfang to Darkmire's to here, you wouldn't have had much time to rest."

"No we haven't." Spyro said. "But Cynder has wind magic; she made our flight much easier."

"Still you must be tired and hungry. We can get you some food."

"Mm, yes please." Spyro said.

* * *

Flare, Spyro and Cynder got food. The food in Shattershelf was slightly better than Warfang food in Cynder's opinion. She and Spyro both had second helpings, and then they had third helpings too.

After his third helping Spyro sat back and poked his belly happily. Cynder reached out with her tail and poked Spyro's belly too, making him laugh.

After Spyro and Cynder were finished they followed Flare back to where the other dragons from Warfang had their rooms. One room was unoccupied; Flare was leading them to it when a voice called out to them.

"Spyro is that you?"

Spyro and Cynder looked around, a young crimson and yellow coloured dragon approached them, Cynder thought he resembled Spyro quite a bit. It took her a moment to recognise the dragon as Flame.

"Spyro! Hey it is you! Watcha doing here? I thought you were going to the snow or something."

"We did go to the snow." Spyro said.

"Huh, was it that bad that you came all the way here? This is a desert."

"I didn't mind the snow, but Cynder didn't like it very much. Still we saw some nice looking mountains."

"Yuck, snow doesn't sound very nice to me. I agree with Cynder."

"You've never even seen snow." Spyro said.

"I still don't think I'd like it. Oh yeah, Spyro you should check out the dragon school here, it's awesome. I learnt heaps of new stuff."

"You've never praised _my_ teaching like this." Flare said. Flame looked around guiltily.

"Ehe, sorry. You're a great teacher too Flare, it's just that the exercises we've done here are better."

"Better, are they?" Flare asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

"No! Sorry, not better. Uh, easier to learn!" Flame said, trying to not be offensive.

"And training is meant to be easy?" Flare asked.

"What oh, uh… no?"

Flare laughed teasingly.

"I'm glad you've taken to the Shattershelf way of using the fire element. I know my way isn't for everyone. I think you should get Spyro to try it, between you and Raze I'm sure you can get him to the training field for a while at least."

"You got it." Flame said.

"Who's got what?" A girl's voice joined the conversation. Spyro stiffened slightly, recognising that voice.

Cynder frowned slightly and looked around and she immediately found herself nose to nose with Ember.

* * *

 **"Making others happy is it's own reward."**

 **-4Dragons**


	21. Among Friends

**As of this chapter Ember gets her song, I'd like to thanks John's Hourglass, once for thanks being amazing and a great help in general, and once again for suggesting this extraordinary song, I think it's perfect. (Please do listen to it.)**

 **For Those Who Wait, by Fireflight.**

 **Story now:**

* * *

Ember looked at Cynder, Cynder looked at Ember.

It was an uncomfortable moment.

Ember was seemingly paralysed by shock. The pink dragoness's eyes revealed a flicker of fear. She stepped back.

"Hello Cynder."

"Ember." Cynder inclined her head.

It was still an awkward moment.

Ember tried to speak but she faltered. Nobody else seemed able to help her, Flare, Spyro and Flame just watched the two girls.

"Cynder… Can we talk?" Ember asked hesitantly. "Privately?"

Cynder considered. She glanced at Spyro, he seemed to be at a complete loss. After a moment Cynder nodded.

"Fine."

"I have a room." Ember said. "We can go there."

Cynder went with Ember.

The pink dragoness had made the room her own, unwilling to leave it in the plain state she'd found it in. Cynder didn't think many of the other fire dragons would decorate their rooms with carefully arranged desert flowers. She glanced around with some interest before focusing on Ember.

"What did you want to say?" She asked.

Ember nodded nervously, gathering her confidence.

"I want to say sorry. Cynder I'm sorry about how I've treated you, I shouldn't have been this way towards you."

"You're sorry. Why?"

"Well after we fought you came and apologised, then Cyria came too and we talked about it. She's right, I've been awful to you and I don't want to do that anymore."

Cynder thought about Ember's apology for a moment before deciding on a reply. All the little jibes and taunts Ember had sent her way, all of Cynder's responses, all the anger she wished she could just take out on the pink dragoness. In the colosseum Ember had finally crossed the line and given Cynder the chance to make her hurt in return, but that had been only a taste of what Cynder had wanted to do to her, fair recompense.

Cynder couldn't trust the pink dragoness, and she didn't want to, she felt only scorn for Ember. Now she had an even sweeter chance to show Ember just how much she had done to Cynder. How much pain having your words thrown back in your face could cause.

"Oh, well that makes everything better then." Cynder said mockingly. Ember flinched. "You really think that after the pleasure you took in what you did that I could just forgive you that easily?"

"But… you apologised… I thought that-" Ember hesitated and Cynder cut her off.

"Yes I did, I apologised promptly, and honestly, and I was apologising for the way our fight ended, not for everything I'd done to you ever. You can't just say 'I'm sorry' for what _you've_ done Ember. It doesn't work that way."

"But-"

"I don't want to hear it. Ember you've lost, you have to give him up. Do you remember what the first thing you said to me when I came back to Warfang was? I remember it. You mocked me for slinking away with my tail between my legs. Now it's your turn to slink, pinky. And until you understand how bad you've made me feel don't be expecting any forgiveness."

"I don't know what else to say! I can't give up Spyro! I tried but I just can't!" Ember sobbed. "Cynder please, just tell me what I can do." The pink dragoness was crying but she fought through her tears to hold Cynder's gaze.

"Don't say anything. Don't do anything. Get out of my sight Ember, I'll forgive you if I feel like it, but don't hold your breath."

Ember stood for a moment, stunned, trying to find words but unable to do it.

"We're done here." Cynder said coldly.

She turned around and walked away, behind her she heard Ember fling herself down on the bed and start crying uncontrollably.

* * *

Cynder re-joined Spyro, Flame and Flare in the corridor. Spyro looked at her, silently questioning.

Cynder hung her head as the adrenaline she had felt left her body. In the heat of the moment the things she'd said to Ember had felt good, but already a part of her wished she hadn't said them. That was just one part of her, another part of Cynder was glad she'd said those things. She thought Ember had deserved what she'd gotten. In fact she'd probably deserved worse.

"How did it go?" Flare asked. She had her suspicions as to what had happened between the pink and black dragonesses. She didn't want to interfere with this, but she also didn't want either of the two dragonesses hurt too badly.

"Slightly better than I thought it would go, but that isn't saying much." Cynder said wearily. "I've sorted her out."

"Are you okay?" Spyro asked.

Cynder nodded.

"Yes, I'm fine."

Spyro didn't press her, but he wanted to know what had gone on. He resolved to talk about it to Cynder later, after she'd had some time to think it over.

None of the dragons said anything for a while. Cynder could still faintly hear Ember crying in her room. The sombre mood was interrupted by the arrival of two more familiar dragons.

"Flare, can I stop looking after him now?"

An orange coloured dragon walked up to them. Perched on top of his head and grinning cheekily was a second little fire dragon.

"Walk faster you loser! Spyro and Cynder are here! C'mon, walk!"

Feyer did not increase his pace; the large dragon looked rather irritated.

"Hi Spyro. Hi Cynder!" Spark called out to them.

"Spark? What are you doing here?" Spyro looked astonished.

"I should be asking you that! You were meant to go to that other place, what was it called? Darkmire's tomb. How did you get here so quickly?"

"And how did _you_ get out of Warfang? I can't believe Imperia or your parents let you come along." Spyro said. When Spark didn't immediately respond he looked at Flare, who looked away uncomfortably.

"Nadder and Stratos helped me fake being sick for my parents and Imperia, and then I stowed away with Flare." Spark said proudly.

"What?" Spyro stared first at Spark, then at Flare. The fire guardian had the decency to look embarrassed.

"My mind was on other things while I was packing my bag." She said defensively. "We were nearly here by the time I found out he was in there."

"It was a tight squeeze, but still pretty comfortable in the pack." Spark confided.

"Since then we've been taking turns to make sure he doesn't get in trouble." Feyer said, sounding annoyed. "It's someone else's turn to babysit."

Spark wacked Feyer on the back of the head, then jumped down to Flare's head before the orange dragon could get his own back. Feyer was bigger than Flare, but he didn't risk reaching up and smacking Spark while the little dragon had taken a spot on her head.

"Right. He's your problem now." Feyer said. "I've got better things to do than have a reunion." The orange dragon turned around and walked off.

"I'm glad that he's gotten over you knocking him out." Spyro said to Cynder.

"Had he really gotten over it? He still seems a bit grumpy."

"He's always like that." Spyro said.

* * *

Spyro and Cynder had not had much free time over the past few days. They were temporarily at a loss for what to do now that they had it, but eventually they decided that the first thing to do was sleep. Flare took them to the end room, the only one that was unoccupied, and then she left them to it.

Spyro and Cynder went to the bed and flopped down on it, snuggling together and relaxing. Cynder closed her eyes and rested her head on Spyro's chest so she could listen to the purple dragon's slow breathing.

She pretended to sleep, and her body rested, but Cynder found that she couldn't actually fall asleep. She just didn't feel tired.

She lay there beside Spyro and waited as time went by. Eventually she opened her eyes and looked around. Spyro's eyes were open too; he looked at her with a smile.

"Not asleep?"

"Apparently not."

"Do you want to talk?"

"Sure. What about?"

"You can choose the subject." Spyro offered.

"I can't think of anything. What do you want to talk about?"

"Do you mind if I ask? What did you and Ember say to each other?"

"She tried to apologise to me." Cynder said with a sigh.

"Is that a good thing?" Spyro asked.

"I don't know." Cynder said. "But I crushed her for it."

"You what?" Spyro asked.

"I used it as a chance for payback. I regret it now. I shouldn't have done it, it was cruel. I don't know what I should have done, but not that. I just don't think it should be so easy for Ember to just apologise after what she's done."

"I disagree about that." Spyro said.

"You think I should have just accepted her apology?" Cynder asked.

"It's up to you if you do or don't, but if someone seems to regret what they did then I always want to give them another chance. It's not a good feeling when your apologies aren't accepted."

Cynder knew that better than most, she'd tried to apologise to other dragons for what her controlled form had done in the past, but it had hurt too much for her to keep trying because her apologies had never made any difference.

"I don't even know if she's being sincere. This could just be one more way she'll try to hurt me and keep you away from me. I made her cry." Cynder closed her eyes, remembering Ember crying.

"I guess that the best thing there is to do is to wait and see what she does next. You can try to apologise for what you said to her, but also make it clear that you aren't forgiving her at the same time."

Cynder nodded, that seemed like good advice.

Spyro smiled and grabbed hold of Cynder, holding her tightly. "Ember can't keep me away from you."

Cynder laughed. Spyro rolled her onto her back. She lay there for a moment before smiling playfully, she moved around him so she was on top, he was comfortable to lie on. Spyro was laughing too.

"What do you want to do after we're done with Malefor and Magmar and all of this?" Spyro asked Cynder.

"Whatever you do I'd do. We could explore, or we could stay in Warfang. Now that there's Imperia and Volteer and Miasma and the others Warfang feels like a more friendly place. I'd be happy to stay there for a while. What were you thinking?"

"If I've got you then I'm happy." Spyro said, he rolled them around again and pinned Cynder. "And I _have_ got you." He smiled.

"No you haven't." Cynder said. Spyro grinned, and then Cynder turned to shadows below him. He fell straight through where she had been lying, the shadows brushed over him and then Cynder was standing on his back. "I've got you."

"Your shadow element is so sexy." Spyro said.

"You've said so before." Cynder smiled. Spyro looked up at her, also smiling.

"It's true." He said.

Cynder performed a few steps of a massage for Spyro and the purple dragon sighed in pleasure, then Cynder stopped and sat down on top of him. Spyro laughed and flipped them, catching Cynder again. She struggled playfully. Spyro went to kiss her throat but Cynder caught him with a kiss of her own before he could start. She reversed their position again and pinned Spyro.

"This isn't submitting." Spyro laughed.

Cynder froze.

"So you did remember that?"

"Of course I remembered that." Spyro grinned at her smugly. "It was very memorable. I remember how you wriggled when I finally caught you, and I remember how you scowled and laughed at the same time."

"I can't believe you remember that." Cynder huffed. "It was embarrassing."

"I thought it was adorable. Submission suits you." Spyro grinned.

"Don't poke fun, or else." Cynder threatened.

"Or else what?" Spyro laughed. He tried to escape her hold, but he wasn't able to.

"You don't want to find out." Cynder told him.

"Or else you'll submit? That'd really teach me a lesson I'm sure." Spyro teased.

"I'll teach _you_ a thing or two about submission." Cynder growled.

"Would you?" The purple dragon laughed. He got a paw free and tried to get hold of Cynder. She caught his paw again and pinned it.

"I certainly would. It would be slow, and I'd take great pleasure in it. It would involve some screaming, psychological mind games, possibly straps, fear magic and Imperia's lavender scented bath soap."

Spyro's mind took a moment to process this unusual threat.

"Forget everything else; the moment we're done with all of this we are doing _that_."

Cynder blinked.

"What? That was meant to intimidate you."

"It does! Of course it does. Are you kidding? I'm terrified! That was completely insane. Where did that idea come from?"

"Oh, it was just sort of floating around in my mind, just in case you ever bought up what happened that night."

"That is brilliant." Spyro said. He managed to get his paw free again, but instead of continuing to battle Cynder for position he only pulled her close and cuddled her. Cynder hummed happily as she lay on Spyro.

"Do you really actually think so? You aren't just being nice?"

"Of course I think so. I loved that, it was… sexy."

"I like being sexy."

"Sexiness suits you."

* * *

The morning came. Spyro and Cynder decided to sleep in; after all they didn't need to do anything, for once.

Eventually the two dragons were gotten up by the prospect of food. Flare and Spark happened to be passing by their room as they went into the corridor, which was fortunate because Spyro and Cynder had completely forgotten where the food was to be found.

They followed Flare through the city until they arrived back where they'd eaten last time.

After food Flare suggested they all go to the training field. The others agreed enthusiastically, so they travelled through a series of tunnels until they arrived in a large room, the floor was sand and there were several dragons scattered across it.

Cynder spotted a few dragons practicing manipulating fire, a class of dragons about Spark's age were listening to a teacher; other dragons were sparring against each other. Then she spotted Ember.

The pink dragoness was on the far side of the chamber, talking to another young dragoness who was primarily blue but who had swirling red patterns on her scales.

The blue dragoness looked over and caught sight of Spyro and Cynder; she pointed them out to Ember. Ember shook her head and ran out of the room through a different passage. Cynder sighed, she felt even worse about what she'd done to Ember now, and it looked like apologising wouldn't be easy either.

She put Ember out of her mind for the moment when Flame came up to them and called a greeting, he brought Spyro and Cynder along to a duo of dragons that were the same age as them. The dragons started discussing some element of fire manipulation, Cynder didn't understand all of it and she didn't have a lot to add to the discussion because she didn't have a fire element, but she didn't mind, she simply enjoyed listening to the conversation.

Spyro didn't get the same sort of respect simply for being a purple dragon here, the Shattershelf dragons interrupted him and argued with him casually, but Spyro didn't seem bothered by that. It was a novel thing for Spyro to be treated in this sort of way and he found it rather funny.

"So which is better? Warfang fire or Shattershelf fire?" One of the fire dragons, who had introduced himself as Suna, asked Spyro.

"Oh no, we are not starting this again." The other dragon, Ferno, said. "How would he know anyway? He's only just got here."

"I thought we agreed that Flare's match against Asha would decide that." Flame said. "And we all know who won _that_ particular event."

"That was just one dragon from each of our styles, not really a big sample. Still Flare is quite strong."

"She's amazing." Ferno said.

"And good looking." Suna added.

There was general agreement from the other three dragons. The conversation paused for a moment, and then the others took notice of Cynder.

"So who's the pretty black dragoness? Is she your girlfriend?"

"Yes." Spyro said proudly.

"You're a lucky dragon."

"You have no idea." Spyro smiled.

The conversation circle shifted so that Cynder had space to stand beside Spyro.

"So what's your name?" Ferno asked Cynder.

Cynder hesitated before answering; one or both of these fire dragons might have lost friends or family to her attacks in the past.

"Cynder." She said.

"Cynder? As in the Terror of the Skies, the same Cynder that-?"

"Not the same Cynder." Spyro said firmly. He put his wing protectively over the black dragoness.

Cynder was grateful that Spyro immediately defended her, but she felt that she could give the two fire dragons some explanation, they seemed nice enough.

"Think of it like this, I was being possessed by the Dark Master, it was still my physical body, but altered and with different powers. Now I'm free of the Dark Master and I'm not like I was. If you look at it one way I'm the same Cynder, but if you look at it another way then I'm not."

The two fire dragons considered this, and then Ferno nodded; content with the explanation.

"So are you a fire dragoness then, Cynder?"

"No I'm not."

"Really? What is your element then?"

"Well I have a few. Wind, Shadow, Poison and Fear."

"I didn't know there were dragons with those elements at all. Except wind, that one exists."

"They all exist. But they're rare. I barely know any dragons with the same elements."

"Cool. So are you a good fighter?"

"She's more than good at fighting." Flame said. "She's brilliant. She's probably about as strong as Spyro, and way stronger than me. She fought _five_ dragons at once, including both Ember and Feyer, and she beat them all without using any magic at all. Just melee."

"No way. I don't believe you, Flame." Suna said, he looked over at Cynder. "That big dragon Feyer would be tough enough, but plus four other dragons too? You can't have done that."

"She did." Flame insisted. "She kicked their asses. It was awesome."

"I didn't fight them all at once. I was able to knock out Feyer right at the start of the fight, and then one of the dragonesses wanted to fight me alone, so it was more like three on one in the end." Cynder said.

"You knocked out Feyer right at the start? I definitely don't believe you now."

"You should." Spyro grinned. "Ember challenged her for going out with me, then several of the other dragons challenged her for other reasons and Cynder beat them all."

"You are a very lucky dragon." Suna said to Spyro. Then he grinned. "Would you do the same for her?"

"Is that a challenge?" Spyro asked, also grinning.

"And if it is?"

"You guys are joking right?" Flame said. "Don't take this too seriously."

"I wasn't being serious." Suna said. He reached out his paw to Spyro. "Friends?"

"Friends." Spyro agreed, he reached out and shook the offered paw. "But if you _did_ challenge me then I'd kick your ass just as well as my girlfriend would… Friend"

"I rather doubt it. I'm the best fighter our age in this city by far."

"Spyro's the best fighter in Warfang." Flame put in helpfully.

"Then let's see." Suna said. "Fire and melee, nothing else. That way we'll also be able to find out whose way of fire manipulation is stronger."

"Bring it."

* * *

Suna was rather alike to Spyro in physical build, quite lean and not especially large, but still strong. He moved with a similar agility to Spyro too, but without quite the same easy grace. He also had very similar confidence in his bearing. Cynder had no doubt whatsoever as to who the winner would be here, Spyro would win of course, but she was interested to see how far the fire dragon could push him. Also she couldn't help but note that both dragons were quite attractive, she liked this matchup.

Spyro waited for the other dragon to make the first move, but Suna seemed to be in no hurry either. The two dragons faced each other casually and talked.

"So have you been graded for mastery?" Spyro asked.

"Of course. Twice."

"So you're at second Mastery?"

"Comfortably. What about you?"

"I'm the same. Well done on that. How about in melee combat? You look like you know what you're doing."

"I'd like to think so."

"Would you like to prove it? I can keep talking if you'd prefer."

"Sure, keep talking Spyro. If you can." Suna strolled forward, as he got within range of Spyro he turned and lashed out with his tail, it was a fast move but easily predicted; Spyro blocked the attack with his wings. Suna circled left around Spyro before leaping up and trying an implausible spinning strike. Spyro blocked again, but Suna was able to simply continue his spinning attack around Spyro's defence and force him to dodge away.

"I can keep talking. That was a neat move; it almost seemed like a wind dragon technique, considering that impressive jump."

"It's not really standard fighting, but it usually works. Most fire dragons aren't as willing to retreat from an unexpected attack as you apparently are." Suna smirked.

"Most of your fire dragons are foolish then. I had nothing to lose from dodging your attack. One point to Warfang." Spyro smirked in return.

Suna advanced, this time Spyro circled back and then darted forwards. Suna met Spyro head on, blocking Spyro's paw with his wing before responding with a strike of his own. Spyro moved past the attack and rammed the fire dragon but was unable to stagger him. Suna caught hold of Spyro and tried to grapple with him.

He got Spyro in close and slammed an elbow into the purple dragon's belly. Spyro grunted and Suna followed up with a knee. He torqued his body to throw Spyro off balance, aiming to get a stranglehold on him but the purple dragon's paw came up and caught Suna right on the jaw with a powerful punch. The fire dragon lost his grip and Spyro kicked him away, sweeping his tail down low to send him sprawling.

"Not bad." Spyro admitted. "It's violent."

"One to Shattershelf." Suna rose to his feet and advanced on Spyro again.

"I'll give you that. But I wouldn't have thought close quarters fighting was the best style for dragons of our build. What happens when you try that on someone bigger than me?"

"The harder they fall." Suna smiled. "We're a good size for this style, you were big and strong enough to match my power but also slim and quick enough to be able to adapt as fast as I could and get out. Bigger opponents are too slow to be able to do much about grappling."

"I can't see that theory holding up very well against a dragon like Magmar."

"No, definitely not. He is fast, way faster than he looks. I wouldn't want to get anywhere near him, even before you consider his tendency to create explosions and using his comet dash to move around. Standard tactics against him would be to run away very fast."

"I don't like grappling personally. It's a crude sort of tactic and requires no skill or grace."

"Is Shattershelf fighting not stylish enough for you Warfang dragons?"

"If I win then I'll win with style, that'll be worth a bonus point."

" _If_ you win. Which you won't."

Spyro grinned; he half turned and struck with his tail, before he even saw the result of the attack he leapt forwards, using Suna's own wings as a platform to jump from. He landed behind Suna and kicked out, sending the fire dragon stumbling before following up with another tail lash.

Suna whirled around to face the purple dragon, but he was off balance and this time he fell as Spyro slammed into him, Spyro followed up by kicking Suna in the head and going for a winning attack.

Suna wrapped his tail around Spyro's foreleg and brought the purple dragon down to his level, and then he grabbed hold of him and started to strike Spyro repeatedly.

Cynder watched the two dragons struggle, she still had little doubt Spyro would win, but this fight was proving even more interesting than she had hoped. She glanced across at Flame and Ferno, when she looked around the rest of the training field she saw the match had drawn attention from many of the other dragons who were there as well.

Suna rolled them so that he was on top of Spyro and tried to hold him down; Spyro got his feet on Suna's belly and forced the fire dragon off him and back to Spyro's preferred range. He threw in a second strike at the fire dragon's jaw which briefly stunned Suna. Spyro wriggled out of his grip before unfurling his wings and leaping clear of the fight.

By the time he landed Suna was back on his feet. The two dragons each reconsidered their opponent.

Suna had a slight advantage in strength and was more capable than Spyro at close range combat. He had also proven good enough to get Spyro into his preferred range more than once to wear the purple dragon down with his punishing attacks.

Spyro may have had less raw strength but his fighting style and technique gave him more power. He needed to keep Suna far enough away from him that he could use his agility and poise to attack safely. This required a very different method of fighting to the way he had approached sparring against Cynder. There he'd been trying to catch the black dragoness and keep her still; here he was almost playing the other side of that game.

Both dragons still seemed to have roughly even odds of winning, neither one seriously believed that they might lose. Somebody had to lose though.

Suna opened his mouth, heat glowed within and he blasted a stream of fire at Spyro. Spyro dodged, the way that Suna had breathed his fire was different to the way Spyro had been taught by Ignitus. Suna's fire was more concentrated in a smaller stream, making it an attack with more range, impact and intensity, but also easier to dodge.

Spyro responded with his own fire breath, he considered holding back on his power but decided not to bother, if it was to be an elemental battle then he would show this fire dragon just what he was dealing with.

Spyro exhaled a massive firestorm; it was far too big to dodge out of the way of and it consumed the other dragon instantly. Spyro controlled the fire, keeping it from reaching the spectators and directing its heat and power upon the dragon caught in its centre.

Spyro doubted he would harm Suna a great deal, fire dragons were very resistant to fire, but the scale of his attack would make the sheer power that Spyro possessed quite clear.

He maintained the fire for a few seconds before cutting of his stream and focusing on controlling the fire he had already created. He balanced on his hind legs, spreading his wings and clasping his forepaws as he focused. He sent the fire whirling upwards towards the high ceiling, then began to shape it.

Spyro spun his fire into a dragon shape, then quickly but carefully refined its form into that of a slender dragoness. With wonder Cynder recognised her own horns and tail blade, Spyro had created a figure of her, the sight made her heart beat faster.

Spyro cut off his magic and the image faded, but the image of Spyro posed there creating a fiery figure of her above him was still burned firmly into Cynder's mind. Spyro looked around to where she stood and mouthed words at her.

'I love you'

Cynder took a moment to snap out of her lovestruck daze before mouthing the same words back to Spyro. He smiled.

Flare spoke from beside Cynder, the black dragoness still found it unusually difficult to detect the fire dragonesses approach.

"That showed a great deal of skill. I do hope you're flattered."

"I am." She said in a voice that was full of emotion.

Cynder turned back to watch Spyro and Suna fight, Flare considered the black dragoness for a moment, thinking to herself.

Spyro was disappointed when he saw Suna had used a blue bubble to shield himself from the heat; Spyro's powerful attack hadn't physically affected the fire dragon in the slightest. Still Suna looked impressed and that was what Spyro had been aiming for.

"That was pointless, but admittedly quite amazing." The fire dragon said.

"Two points for Warfang." Spyro said. He looked around. "We've drawn a crowd." He noted.

All of the fire dragons in the field had stopped what they were doing to watch the match. It was rare for a dragon in Shattershelf to bother with fire manipulation purely for dramatic effect, and when the watchers had realised this was because a Warfang dragon was battling one of the strongest young dragons in the city they all wanted to see what would happen.

"Good, I'd hate to embarrass my new friend by needing to brag about your loss here myself. This way everyone will know that I won and I can be gracious in my victory." The fire dragon started to walk closer to Spyro.

"Sure." Spyro smiled. "But first you've got to w-"

Suna had closed in enough to use his fire breath again faster than Spyro could dodge it. The purple dragon took the attack full on.

Spyro was staggered by the impact of the fire torrent; the concentration of Suna's fire gave the breath attack a physical force. He used his magic to deflect the heat and planted his feet to withstand the attack.

Suna cut off his fire, Spyro was surrounded by flames but unharmed. The purple dragon spread his wings and swept the fire back at its creator. Suna swept his wings too and the fire faded to smoke. Spyro grinned, seeing the smoke. Before Suna could launch another attack Spyro opened his maw and breathed out a dense cloud of smoke.

Cynder created a smoke free bubble around herself but none of the other dragons were able to do the same. Clearly fire dragons weren't able to control smoke like they could fire. Flare was trying to fan the smoke away from herself but having little success; Cynder extended her air bubble to include the fire guardian dragoness too.

"This is annoying, but not very useful." Suna called out to the smoke, he wasn't able to see Spyro, but the purple dragon was at the same disadvantage. "Do you learn any actual attacks in Warfang or is it all aesthetic stuff like this?"

A response came in the form of a fireball. Suna didn't see it coming, but he realised that his speech had allowed Spyro to locate him. The fireball was astonishingly accurate, hitting just below where Spyro had judged Suna's mouth and head to be. It exploded against Suna's chest and threw him off his feet. He landed with a soft thud and heard the whoosh of spreading wings. A second fireball exploded on the ground right beside him. He launched one of his own upwards in the direction he guessed Spyro was, but he heard it explode harmlessly on the roof just before Spyro hit him for a second time.

Suna was battered by the explosive impacts, but not beaten, he moved quickly and silently around the field so Spyro wouldn't know where to aim.

"The best fighters vary their tactics and use their techniques to complement each other. Earth dragons and Wind dragons are particularly good at this, but all dragons can do it if they're skilled enough."

"Are you saying I'm not skilled?" Suna yelled. He launched a volley of fireballs at the source of the voice and growled in satisfaction when he heard one of them hit the purple dragon. "I'll show you skill!"

Spyro located the Suna from the direction of his attacks and voice, shrugging off the impact of the accurate fireball he dove towards the dragon below.

Suna was not expecting a full speed attack, Spyro hit him and drove him onto the ground. Suna was unable to recover from the impact quickly enough and Spyro started to hit him repeatedly, going for a knockout blow. Suna covered up as best he could and then countered with a comet dash.

Spyro was thrown back, but used his own comet dash on the fire dragon before Suna could get his bearings. He knocked Suna down and followed up his advantage, trying to stun the other dragon.

The smoke was clearing now; Cynder didn't like it interrupting her view so she made a gentle breeze to get rid of it faster.

Suna got clear and turned around, using his own comet dash straight toward Spyro. The purple dragon stood his ground and turned, carefully choosing the perfect angle he struck right into the centre of the oncoming explosive attack, catching Suna dead on with his tail.

The fire dragon was knocked to the ground but didn't stay there for long. He hurled himself at Spyro with a growl, rearing up and creating fire right in his paws to use as a weapon. Spyro smacked Suna's paw aside and turned side on, kicking him in the chest, the fire dragon grunted but wasn't knocked back. His fire took the form of a straight sword and he swung it. Spyro ducked under the attack, surprised to see that the fire Suna used was nearly solid.

Suna put both his paws together and morphed his sword into a huge greataxe made of fire, before swinging back at Spyro. The purple dragon dodged back, and then hurriedly threw himself flat with a yelp upon realising that he hadn't dodged far enough to account for the extreme reach of the fire weapon.

Spyro looked up to see the greataxe sweeping down for his head; he rolled aside and scrambled away.

"That's cool." He managed to say. Suna formed his fire into a long spear and hurled it at Spyro, but the purple dragon turned it into a fireball and launched it back. Suna stepped aside to let the fire go past.

"It's good fun. These weapons aren't strong enough to cut dragon scales, but I intend to become skilled enough to be the first dragon to have that ability. Do you not have these in Warfang?"

Spyro shrugged.

"I read a book about it once. I think it was written by a Shattershelf dragon. I've never really been able to get the hang of fire weapons; they always disappear in my paws."

"That can happen; I recommend you start with larger weapons, the fire maintains its integrity more easily that way."

Spyro nodded, he created fire in his paws and turned it into a long scythe. He leapt forwards as he swung it at Suna, but the fire dragon simply broke through the fire. Undeterred Spyro strengthened the shortened scythe handle into a weighty mace and thrust it straight out at Suna.

Suna grunted at the solid impact and was driven back a step.

'You're not bad at that. For a newbie."

"I've done this with both ice and earth before, so it's not totally new. But thanks for the praise." Spyro said. He added more fire to his mace until it resembled a huge club, then jumped and spun in a full circle to bring it down in a diagonal slash. Suna dodged back and threw another spear at Spyro, hitting him in the chest.

"Fire has more adaptability then those other two elements." Spyro said. "I did not expect that you could change weapons so quickly."

"You know what the most difficult weapon to make is that I've found?"

"What?"

"This." Suna created a long whip of fire and struck out at Spyro. The purple dragon caught it and shredded it easily.

"Doesn't work very well."

"You don't have to rub it in." Suna grumbled. "I'm working on it."

"Right, let's get serious."

Spyro leapt forwards, Suna went to meet him, creating a curved blade of fire in each of his paws, but Spyro grabbed a pawful of sand and in a second he had heated it until it was glowing hot, then he threw it in the other dragon's eyes.

Suna cursed and faltered, trying to maintain a defence while also wanting to rub his eyes. Spyro stepped around him neatly and dumped him on the ground; Suna went to get up but was halted by something very cold pressing at his throat.

"I thought we said only fire." Suna protested. Spyro frowned, then he realised he had created a blade of ice to threaten the other dragon. He got rid of it and stepped back.

"Sorry, it's habit."

"Are you at second mastery in _all four_ of your elements?" Suna asked, incredulous.

"Yes." Spyro said. The fire dragon contemplated this new information for a moment before nodding.

"You win, Spyro."

"Well fought." Spyro offered his paw and the fire dragon took it, allowing Spyro to pull him to his feet.

"And you." He looked around at the other dragons who had gathered to watch the fight. "Fight's over now!"

"There was a fight?"

Spyro and Suna looked around as a fire dragoness walked into the training area.

"Lady Asha." Suna bowed to Asha, Spyro did the same in politeness. Cynder and Flare joined them, Flame and Ferno also came forward to hear what was going on.

"Was there a fight?" Asha pressed.

"Not like that. It was just a sparring match."

"In friendship." Spyro clarified.

"You two are friends?" Asha asked doubtfully. "Since when?"

"About ten minutes ago. Probably less." Spyro said.

"Really?"

Spyro and Suna nodded.

"Consider me impressed." Asha said. "I'm glad of it." She looked up at Flare. "You brought the right dragons along here."

"I didn't bring Spyro. But I'm glad he came here." Flare said.

"That reminds me. Spyro you came here to warn us of an impending war. Magmar sends me with his thanks for your information. Had we not been alerted, the wall defences on the plain could quite possibly have been taken."

"What?"

"Your army of orcs. They're here."

* * *

 **"From the darkest ashes grow the strongest seeds."**

 **-4Dragons**


	22. Under Attack

**There are two songs that go with this chapter, in order:**

 **Dark Souls OST: Pinwheel's Theme, spooky music from an excellent game. Id recommend that you start it at the start of the chapter. Or start it right now, since I'm trying to cut down on the length of these authors notes.**

 **It was really tough to decide on theme music for Magmar, but eventually I decided on the theme from Terminator 2: Judgement Day. (Terminator 2: Judgement Day Theme) It's dramatic, intense, and it's from Terminator 2, so it works. Play it at any time that feels right.**

 **Story now:**

* * *

"That… is a lot of monsters."

Spyro, Cynder and Asha stood atop one of the Shattershelf watchtowers and looked down at a seething horde of orcs.

Spyro couldn't help but be a little bit intimidated. He'd been afraid, years ago, when the Dark Master had sent his army out against Warfang, he'd thought at the time that was because the city was close to being destroyed, now he realised that armies were simply scary no matter what the occasion was.

The walled plains before Shattershelf were filled with orcs. The vast seething lake of armed creatures was so huge Spyro that couldn't begin to guess how many there were.

"We estimate one hundred and twenty thousand." Asha said.

"But… how? How can you even say that much? Look at them, there are so many it's impossible to count them!"

"We've fought armies here before; smaller ones usually, I admit, but once you start to put them in perspective you can recognise an approximate number from a good vantage point."

Spyro and Cynder watched the orcs move around, the rippling effect that the constant movement caused was disquieting. Because the vast majority of the soldiers Malefor had created didn't have mouths the entire army was ominously silent. Seeing the masses of orcs waiting far below the Shattershelf tower was unsettling.

The two dragons looked higher, the guards in the watchtowers in the mountain pass that Shattershelf was positioned on had all been withdrawn just before the army had arrived. Now the towers were filled with roosting wyverns and winged grublins, there were thousands up there. Possibly even tens of thousands. While it was possible to guess the numbers of the ground troops it was much harder to tell how many flying creatures might be waiting up there for the call to attack. They could all come roaring down in a huge swarm at any moment.

"Those will be trouble." Asha observed. "We have little to fear from the Wyverns while we're within the city walls, but our defences were not designed to protect against flying grublins. We must alert my brother."

"What are those?" Cynder asked, pointing back down again. She had observed a number of what seemed to be siege weapons being moved into position all across the enemy army. There would have been at least four hundred of the strange devices.

"Oh, that's not good." Asha said, displeased. "There goes plan A. Those things are called siege ballista, giant crossbows designed to fire massive quarrels at dragons that attempt to harass the army from the air. They've brought a lot of anti-air firepower. I would have recommended to my brother that we send a force of dragons out to retake the mountaintop watchtowers and kill the grublins within, but any dragon that attempted to fly across the plain would be targeted and brought down immediately."

The three dragons watched the army move around on itself as the hundreds and thousands of orcs marched themselves into positions for a first assault on the fire dragon city.

"We shall go and inform my brother of this."

* * *

Magmar was standing at one of the deep set windows of his throne room, looking out over the besieging army with mild interest.

"Shattershelf has been attacked before in the past. We have multiple advantages over enemy armies."

He looked up at Asha.

"Do they have battering rams?"

"Not that we saw, but-"

"But we're dealing with orcs. Yes." Magmar tapped his claws on the stone thoughtfully. "They can move their siege machinery through the earth below us; they could bring out a battering ram, or multiple, at any moment."

Magmar looked around and walked across the room. He spoke to the other three dragons, but he was mostly thinking out loud to himself.

"Orcs are difficult. An enemy with no supply lines to cut, with no mouths to feed. No factions that would squabble and no homes to return to."

"We need to kill them all in the field, but there are flying grublins here as well, thousands of them, you know as well as I do that our defences will not be suitable for-"

"I know." Magmar said. "The stone here is threaded with razor wire to keep out earth dragons; the wire is close enough together to also stop larger orcs from entering, as are the windows too small for them. But grublins can pass through stone and slip through windows; they'll likely be crawling in the corridors within minutes of the battle being joined."

"We need to get rid of them. We need a way to take the grublins out of the battle."

"No we don't." Magmar said. "Pair up the young dragons from the school, organise a full sweep of every corridor in the city. Outer corridors are to be checked constantly, every five minutes as a minimum, if we can spare permanent guards for windows then do so. Inner corridors are to be swept for grublins at least every ten minutes. Get the older dragons who won't be fighting on the battlefield to search as well, everyone who is able to kill a grublin should be looking for a grublin to kill!"

"Right away, brother."

"Come back immediately sister, delegate the organization to someone else, I want you here, and get Flare as well."

Asha bowed and left the room. Magmar went back to the window and looked out.

"The walls on the plain are designed to break up an enemy army into manageable isolated sections and then to trap them. We will allow the orcs to breach some of the outer walls, and then we shall meet them in battle on our own terms."

"I was wondering what those walls were for." Spyro said.

"Now you know. Shattershelf has many defences; the outer walls are only the first."

Asha arrived, Flare skipping beside her. Flame and Ember trailed behind the two dragonesses.

"Have you seen the state of the siege from the watchtowers or the windows, Flare?" Magmar asked.

"Not yet. I was planning to look after lunch."

"Look now please." Magmar had no idea if Flare was joking, but he didn't care to find out either. He gestured to the windows. "Your assistance would be appreciated in the battle. I intend to lead the elite guard against the enemy orcs in battle."

"I can't judge without seeing the army from above, but that seems like a feasible tactic if you use the walls to negate the numbers advantage the orcs have."

Magmar nodded, and then he turned and stalked for the door.

"I'll prepare our first attack." Magmar said. He paused to look back at Spyro. "A dragon of your skills is welcome to join it. Warfang or not."

"I'll come." Spyro agreed. Magmar and Asha left and Spyro and Cynder followed them towards a war.

Flare sighed; she went to the window and looked out.

"Interesting." She calculated the strength of the army out there compared to what she knew of the Shattershelf dragons. "Malefor must surely know that he isn't likely to win this battle. Not without an ace."

"What do you mean?" Ember asked, joining the older dragoness at the window. She looked out at the horde of orcs at the base of the city. "There's so many." She whispered.

"Shattershelf is strong, the walls are well defended and some of the most powerful dragons in the world are here. Magmar for one, and also myself."

"Is Magmar really that strong? Spyro defeated him." Ember said.

"He certainly is that strong. Don't underestimate him just because Spyro won against him. Have you heard the phrase 'a one dragon army'?"

"I think so." Flame said, also joining them at the window. "That's a lot of monsters." He said. "No dragon can be equal to an entire army, surely?"

"Not necessarily in combat prowess, but a dragon like Magmar is almost unstoppable on the battlefield, capable of swinging an entire battle one way or the other."

"What about Spyro?" Ember asked.

"Spyro is much the same. Shattershelf happens to have a large number of dragons at this level at this particular time. Malefor may have picked a bad moment to try to take it."

I just hope Spyro will be okay." Ember said. "And Cynder too." She added after a moment.

Flare considered the pink dragoness, Ember looked back at her. The pink dragoness had a glint of determination in her eyes.

"I don't want to sit here and just do nothing, Flare, can we go down there and help them?"

"If you feel ready for this then I won't stop you." Flare said.

* * *

Magmar stood at the gates of Shattershelf, behind him over fifty dragons had assembled. This was the main force of Shattershelf's guard, the elite guard. Those dragons that bothered to carry weapons or wear armour at all had chosen their own equipment over the course of their careers in battle; none of them were in standard issue armour. Spyro and Cynder stood to one side of the assembly, Flare, Ember and Flame joined them as the other dragons finished preparing for the battle.

Magmar had put on a similar set of spiked armour to that which he had worn in his match against Spyro. The huge fire dragon looked as terrifying as he had last time, clad in his jagged steel. His eyes almost seemed to glow with bloodlust as he looked over his chosen force of dragons.

"The strategy is simple. These are orcs, and they have no mercy and no intelligence, they will not tire of fighting us until they see every dragon in Shattershelf dead. Our only way to defeat them is to slay them all, and then slay their master."

The fire dragon allowed a feral grin to spread over his features.

"But these are orcs! One dragon is worth a thousand of their lives, no, one dragon is worth ten thousand of their lives! There are one hundred and twenty thousand of them out there waiting for us. Do you know what that means?"

He looked around, nobody answered him, but that was probably part of the point of these pre battle speeches in Spyro's opinion.

"That means that I expect twelve dead dragons by the end of this siege. If there are less I will be happy, if there are more I will be disappointed. I expect twelve."

Magmar turned around.

"Open the gate. And bring me my sword."

The gate was opened and a dragon came up to Magmar with the biggest, scariest sword Spyro had ever seen.

"What is _that_?" He asked Flare.

"That's a greatsword. Magmar's preferred weapon. Spring Dawn he named it."

"Spring dawn?" Cynder asked sceptically. Magmar didn't seem like the type of dragon to give a weapon a joke name, but the huge sword was massive, broad and heavy, made of steel tinted a bloody red. It was ugly and had an appearance of brutal efficiency; the name Spring Dawn did not suit it.

"The end of winter." Flare said simply. "He used it in the ice and fire wars to kill dozens of ice dragons, it terrified everyone who faced him, his use of it made him legendary."

"Why didn't he use that thing against me?" Spyro asked. "I would have been much more afraid to fight against him if he'd had that."

"Because The Dragonslayer is currently in Warfang and you could have chosen to use it against him. That wasn't a trade-off Magmar was willing to make. Perhaps he should have, but he didn't."

Magmar took the greatsword in his mouth and gave it a test swing, the blade made a deep whoosh as it cut the air. He growled in satisfaction then tossed the huge weapon up before catching it in his forepaws. The blade of the sword ignited with a roar, glowing with heat and flames.

"Let's go kill some things." The fire king snarled.

* * *

The orcs had brought siege towers high enough to cross the plains walls, the fire dragons that had been holding the walls had allowed some of the ramparts to be taken, but still held their defences on other areas of the walls.

The siege towers the orcs built had done their jobs, allowing first dozens and then hundreds of orcs to stream over the wall and into the area beyond it. The orcs found themselves in a flat area facing a second, even higher wall. There were walls on all sides now, and the innermost ones were more heavily guarded. Hundreds of orcs crossed to begin to create a strong position and found themselves isolated, now unprotected by the siege ballista they had brought all this way to counter the powerful dragons. They heard fighting behind them, despite the limited intelligence that the orcs possessed they were able to realise that more dragons had come from the city and regained control of the wall they had just crossed, destroying the towers that had landed there and cutting off all reinforcements to the orcs within. There were now dragons on all sides of the walls, the orcs had been surrounded. Cynder was impressed at how well the Shattershelf defences had turned this particular part of the battle in their favour.

A massive red dragon in dark armour leapt off the walls and landed on the open ground. The orcs, there must have been at least six hundred of them, watched him silently to see what he would do.

Magmar smiled without pity or mercy, he grunted as he swung his heavy sword around to a guard position, the huge blade began to burn fiercely.

"Welcome to my city. Surrender for a quick death."

Orcs were not mindless, they did feel emotion, fear, even caution, but they were also created to desire nothing more than battle. That their position was hopeless meant practically nothing to them, because there was a chance for each of them, no matter how slight it might have been, that they would kill a dragon.

Magmar grinned wickedly as the orcs began to charge at him, he shifted his position slightly as arrows bounced harmlessly of his armour. As they got close enough he crouched to lunge forwards.

"Kill them all!" He roared, and then he exploded forwards with a blazing comet dash and begun to wreak havoc.

Magmar fought with nothing held back, aiming to kill everything within his reach as quickly and completely as possible. He held his massive sword in his jaws and cut down dozens of orcs with each huge sweep, brutally bisecting entire creatures. The flames on the sword trailed through the air around him in sheets of fire. His spiked, armoured tail lashed around, filling all of the space his sword did not cover and crushing anything it hit. He was surrounded, but Magmar was well aware of that and he did not care. Arrows and blades that got past his lethal sweeping blows were deflected by his jagged armour. Magmar constantly lunged forwards as he cut down every beast in his reach faster than more orcs could charge in to replace them. He used his comet dash to blast his way into the thickest groups of orcs that he could find and killed anything that crossed his path, unless it was a dragon.

Spyro and Cynder remained with the dragons who watched from the walls as the other fire dragons engaged the army of orcs that had threatened their home. The dragons did not appear to need any help, they were outnumbered by easily ten to one, and for grown dragons skilled in combat those odds were not just acceptable but were downright easy.

Spyro and Cynder stayed among the dragons that were making sure no more siege towers reached the walls before the fire dragons were done. Cynder looked over the walls, many of the ballista were aimed to catch a dragon that might take off from the walls, but none were aimed low enough to threaten her or the other dragons while they stood there.

It took no more than four minutes for the fire dragons to wipe out the orcs that had been unwise enough to cross the wall. Only one now remained alive. Magmar had caught one of the last orcs when he saw that his first victory was certain.

He held the orc off the ground and slowly strangled him.

"Can you understand me?" He growled. The creature made no response. "Answer or die, can you understand me?"

The orc nodded. Magmar released his stranglehold for a few seconds before resuming his crushing grip. The orc beat helplessly at his armoured paw.

"I mean to throw you off the walls, back to your pathetic army. Will you carry a message to your master?"

It shook its head, Magmar growled and squeezed harder.

"Will you reconsider?"

The orc held on for as long as it could against the red dragon's claw, but eventually it nodded.

"Tell your master to pack up his army and leave. This city has never been taken and he will not be the first to succeed. I will kill him myself if he does not do as I have asked. I have no need for pawns to fight battles for me."

Magmar spread his wings and leapt up to the top of the wall, his armour crashed at the impact of his landing.

"Go. Give your master my message."

Magmar wound up and hurled the orc off the wall, the creature arced through the air gracefully before landing crumpled in the sand. After several seconds it got up and began limping back to its own lines. Magmar growled in satisfaction and turned away from the besieging army.

"Any injuries?" He asked.

"Nothing major, a few of the dragons have minor bruises." Asha reported.

"Good. We have another contingent of the Orc army isolated in the same way, let's do this again."

Spyro did some maths in his head. Assuming they had killed six hundred orcs and there had been one hundred and twenty thousand then they would need to have only about two hundred more battles like this one before the whole orc army would be gone.

He looked out at the massive army beyond the walls again. He doubted that would be how this battle ended up turning out.

* * *

Malefor and Gracious looked down on Shattershelf from one of the watchtowers that the fire dragons had given up. Gracious watched as the fire dragons destroyed over a thousand of the orcs from their army, and as far as he could tell they hadn't taken a single enemy dragon out of the fight, nor had they gained any ground that the fire dragons hadn't allowed them to take.

He could see Magmar down far below them, the huge armoured dragon was easy to recognise even from this great distance, cutting his way through each battle. Gracious wanted him dead, everything he'd done until now had been to see the bloodfire dragon dead at his feet, to kill him personally if possible.

"We're getting nowhere." He said to Malefor, frustrated. "The walls and river are countering our advantages. We can't take down the dragons."

"The city is well defended." Malefor agreed.

"What do we do?" Gracious asked.

"We have plenty of options." Malefor said. "What do you suggest?"

Gracious frowned; this was a test he was sure. Malefor would have the answer, he always did.

"I suggest we bring the battering rams up and destroy the outermost walls entirely. If the Shattershelf defences are in ruins then the fire dragons won't be able to surround our soldiers and cut them off from the main body of the army."

"Good. And how shall we keep the fire dragons from stopping us destroying the walls?"

Gracious considered this. He finally had the tools he needed to break the city open, now he just needed to work out how to use them.

"We'll use the wyverns and grublins to keep the dragons pinned within the city while we work. Have them chase the fire dragons off the outer walls and back into the city itself, and then keep them there by sending grublins in through the windows. By the time they can destroy the grublins and wyverns to return to the open battlefield it will be our terrain, not theirs."

"I advise you to make haste. I am expecting we shall have company, possibly within the week; we cannot hold this siege with impunity for long."

"Who is coming?" Gracious asked. "Fire dragon reinforcements?"

"The Guardian dragons of Warfang. They are coming here." Malefor said. Gracious looked surprised, but he had no doubt that Malefor was speaking the truth. Malefor was extremely well informed.

"We can take the city before they arrive; I estimate we'll need only two days."

"Excellent. Are we making progress on our hidden way into the city?" Malefor asked.

"Yes. The fire dragons have a blind spot in their defences."

"Just as I predicted." Malefor smiled. "If Magmar goes out to protect his city again then he may not have a city to return to."

Gracious remained perched on the watchtower, Malefor left him there. A few minutes later Gracious growled in satisfaction as the tens of thousands of grublins and wyverns he controlled filled the sky above the defenders. He watched, savouring his triumph as the huge battering rams were brought up to slowly break the walls of Shattershelf, walls that had stood for hundreds of years, into rubble.

Malefor sat in one of the empty rooms below and considered his chessboard. His grander plan was progressing apace. Perhaps his victory would mean Gracious' defeat, or perhaps the two of them could both emerge from Shattershelf victorious. But if only one dragon was to claim victory in this siege it would be Malefor.

Shattershelf was trivial to him, compared to the value of that which was within it.

Spyro and Cynder, along with the other dragons who remained to guard the walls were the first to notice the movement in the mountains.

Asha immediately alerted her brother. The remainder of the trapped orcs were finished off quickly so that the dragons could prepare for the new threat.

To call what came next a 'threat' was something of an understatement. The huge swarm of grublins and wyverns blocked out the sun and put the entire valley below them into clouded shadow. More kept on coming, pouring from the watchtowers and roosts or perches on the steep cliffs.

This was no elite force or group of specialist troops, the grublins and wyverns made up a large portion of Gracious' army. Spyro couldn't guess how many there were, and neither could Asha or even Magmar, they had never encountered a swarm this size.

Even Gracious himself did not know exactly how many troops Malefor had gifted him with, but he judged the swarm to be easily eighty thousand strong, and more than enough to send the dragon defenders running from their little walls.

Magmar looked up at the massive cloud in fury, realising that they stood no chance against it. He considered his options quickly, knowing he had very little time before the swarm committed to a full scale attack.

Already grublins were falling on them like rain, Magmar casually swatted the creatures that flew close to his eyes, but others landed on his armour and tried to find ways through.

Cynder used wind to spear any grublins that came near her or Spyro, but the other dragons had no such protection.

Flame and a few of the other dragons shot fire wildly into the air, trying to scare the grublins into attacking easier targets.

Magmar reached his decision in seconds, seeing that fifty dragons against tens of thousands of flying grublins, small though the creatures might be, was not a good situation.

"Back to the city." He growled. The other dragons reluctantly broke ranks and retreated, flying quickly for one of the smaller gates and torching the grublins that got in their way as recompense for a battle they weren't going to get the chance to fight.

When the swarm of grublins and wyverns saw the dragons start to retreat the entire cloud pulsed forwards dangerously, unsure if they were to pursue and destroy, or allow the fire dragons to get away freely.

High above the cloud Gracious was making their decision for them. He considered his options for a moment before choosing.

"Magmar is down there. Kill the others; bring him to me alive or dead." The ice dragon growled. After a moment his order was relayed to the swarm and the airborne army crashed down upon the retreating dragons.

* * *

Spyro couldn't see more than a few meters in any direction, there were grublins and wyverns everywhere. A random part of his mind wondered how they managed to not bump into each other, but for the most part he was entirely focused on not dying.

Cynder had it much easier, her sweeping wind attacks knocked grublins from the sky, stunning or killing everything around her, she was the only one of them to be unthreatened and she didn't even need to put much of her mana into staying that way. Spyro charged his scales with electricity, using lightning armour to make himself untouchable. He was still threatened by the breath attacks of the wyverns, so he killed them with ice or fire when he saw one.

The dragons landed at one of the smaller doors into Shattershelf, only one dragon could enter at a time. They formed a defensive circle as the horde of grublins above them thickened.

Flare stepped up, she created a huge storm of fire above them, she closed her eyes and began to move, unlike Spyro who had shaped his fire with his paws, Flare used her whole body, slowly dancing and turning on the spot and sweeping her twisted wings with dramatic movements to maintain the flames.

Spyro reared up and added his own fire to Flares, allowing the fire guardian dragoness to manipulate it for him so that she didn't need to create her own. Ember gave Flare her fire too. A grublin flew at the pink dragoness, Ember saw it coming and shrieked, hitting it. After a second she continued using her fire breath to help Flare.

"I do hope you're retreating, not just staring." Flare murmured to nobody in particular, seeing as _everybody_ was staring at her and her fire rather than retreating it would be fair to say that she spoke to everybody.

Asha went to the door and began to quickly direct dragons through it.

Flare used Spyro and Ember's fires to shield them from the bulk of the flying swarm; the Shattershelf dragons were no longer close to being overwhelmed and spread out to combat the enemies that made it around or through the flames.

Magmar casually crushed the grublins that had clung to his armour; he passed his greatsword to a dragon that was going through the door into Shattershelf.

"Put that back." He ordered, the dragon nodded and took the weapon inside.

Eventually only Flare, Ember, Cynder and Spyro remained outside with Magmar. The fire king considered the state of things, beyond Flare's veil of fire a howling crowd of grublins waited to attack.

"Go inside." He said to them. "I'll make a defence until we can close the door."

Cynder was surprised at the gesture. Considering that it was only Warfang dragons out there aside from Magmar she wouldn't have put it past him to shut the door and leave them to the swarm.

Magmar put his paw to the ground and began to create earth walls around the door.

"You can cease your fire in three, two," Magmar spread his paws for a final manipulation. Spyro could sense his power through the earth; the fire dragon was very skilled in earth manipulation too.

"One."

Magmar sealed them inside a dome of earth at the same moment that the Warfang dragons stopped their fire.

Flare opened her eyes and gradually stopped dancing.

"This is cosy." She said absently, looking around at the earth walls.

"It won't last long, get into the city." Magmar growled. He waited at the door until the others had all entered before he stopped reinforcing his earth dome and jumped inside.

"Close it! Now!" He snapped and the door was quickly closed. Less than a second later grublins could be heard beating on it from the other side.

The dragons panted, rushed with adrenaline. Magmar stood tall and addressed them briefly.

"This was a minor success, but still a success. Our city will not fall. If you are injured you may rest, if you are not then patrol the corridors, grublins will squirm through holes and crevices, many will already have found a way inside. The vermin cannot be allowed to gather."

Magmar glanced down as a grublin chose that exact moment to crawl from the ground at his feet. He stomped on it, crushing it flat. A few seconds later another one stated to emerge from the same bit of stone and he crushed it too.

"Get somebody to watch this spot." Magmar growled, and then he walked away. Most of the other fire dragons spread out and took different corridors to start looking for more grublins.

Asha approached Flare.

"I would like to thank you for what you did out there. Dragons would likely have died if you hadn't been with us."

"I'm glad to help." Flare said.

Asha nodded, she looked at Flare for a moment, then walked away.

"That thanks extends to you as well." Flare said, looking first at Ember and then at Spyro. "I'm proud of both of you."

Spyro smiled.

"We should probably help stop grublins from getting into the city." he said.

"That would be a valuable use of time." Flare agreed.

Spyro nodded, he brushed Cynder with his tail and she followed him down the corridor after Magmar. They came across the fire king talking to another fire dragon straight away.

"Lord Magmar, two of the young dragons from the school have gone missing."

"Are you certain?"

"Yes, they didn't come back from their patrol."

"And why not?"

"I don-" Magmar cut the dragon off before he could finish.

"Don't say 'I don't know.' Tell me why or tell me what you suspect. I don't want to hear incomplete information."

"I fear they may have come across more grublins then they can defeat. I don't think they would have disappeared for any other reason."

"Most likely." Magmar agreed. "Where had they been patrolling? Have you searched for them?"

"They were searching the ice caverns, I looked for them, but when the grublins started to attack I-"

"Fine. Go back to what you were doing." Magmar dismissed the other fire dragon; he sighed and turned before spotting Spyro and Cynder.

"There are two young dragons who have not returned from the ice caverns. You're famous for this little 'saving the innocent' thing you do, purple dragon; will you go and find them or do I have to send someone else?"

"Yes." Spyro said. "We'll go."

"Good. It's likely that the grublins will be massing there, holing up in the caves below us, if there are other dragons who are not needed up here then you may bring them with you to clear the pests out."

"Got it." Spyro said.

Magmar walked away, Spyro turned to Cynder.

"I have no idea where the entrance to the ice caverns is."

* * *

Gracious had tired of watching his army batter away at the stone of Shattershelf, he may have driven the fire dragons off the field, but progress was still slow. He flew down from his vantage point on the watchtower, marvelling at the army that was now his to command. The Orcs filled the valley, the wyverns and grublins filled the sky, truly Malefor had fulfilled the promise he had made all those years ago to the ice dragon.

Gracious landed beside a cave that sloped steeply into the base of the mountains. This was no natural cave, it had been constructed on Malefor's orders, the genius purple dragon had predicted a weakness in the Shattershelf defences that his orc army was in a unique position to take advantage of.

When the bulk of the fire dragons met Gracoius' army again outside Shattershelf they would have no hope of retreat, their city would be overrun by orcs. The razor wire in the stone may have protected Shattershelf from a direct assault, but the ice caverns below them had no such defence.

Gracious looked across at the General.

The General had been created with special care by Malefor, this creature was unique in his army, in form it looked like the greater grublins, skeletal and pale, it carried a similar shield and sword, but it was larger and possessed draconic wings that no other creature Malefor created had. This one could also speak, but its voice was a twisted rasping croak that was disturbing to hear, so it remained silent unless speech was necessary.

The most important difference between the General and every other creature in Malefor's army was that it possessed intelligence, genuine intelligence rather than a cheap imitation. The General had been Malefor's only successful attempt at creating a living creature out of earth and dark magic.

The General had been overseeing the creation of the tunnel, now it bowed deeply to Gracious as the ice dragon issued commands.

"I will be there when this city falls. Continue the siege aboveground as planned. I will lead the force in the ice caverns myself."

The General bowed again.

"It will be done, lord." The creature rasped.

Gracious left his army above ground and began to walk down into the depths of the earth.

"For my brother."

* * *

 **Hope you liked the chapter, it was a challenge to write a scene of this scale. I'd be grateful if you could tell me how I did in a review.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **"Not everything has a deeper meaning."**

 **-4Dragons**


	23. Cold Calculation

**Now it's Gracious' turn to get a song:**

 **Requiem for a Dream. This song is a beautiful and intense piece of music. Both sinister and mournful. Play it whenever Gracious shows up.**

* * *

Sandstorms were nothing new to Shattershelf. True, the city's nearness to the mountain range put it in a position where direct storms were rare, but the fire dragons were desert dwellers, and they had dealt with sandstorms in the past.

This, however, wasn't a sandstorm. Thousands of grublins crawled over the cliff walls of the city, searching every exposed face of rock and stone for a way inside. No sandstorm had the intelligence and single-minded determination to get inside the city walls that this storm possessed.

From outside the city walls it did indeed look as if Shattershelf was being attacked by a dark sandstorm, the clouds of flying creatures hovered and pulsed around the city, casting it in twilight.

Inside the city the noise was constant. Grublins crawled out of the walls and the floors; grublins scratched at the doors and beat on the barricades that had been constructed in the windows. The defenders fought their way back and forth along the corridors, Grublins died in their hundreds before the fire dragons. But more were pouring into the city each second.

Magmar waited in his throne room. He was a warrior and a leader with few rivals among dragonkind, and he had earned the respect he was given. It was obvious that the cracks in Shattershelf's defences were too small for a major assault force to threaten the city, the accursed purple dragon or the rouge ice dragon or whoever and whatever else was in command of the orc army would be well aware of this. Grublins were not going to take Shattershelf.

That meant that this assault, impressive though it was, would be nothing but a distraction, not designed to take the city but to clear the way for what came next.

He did not concern himself with the ice caverns, Magmar assumed that it would be only grublins down there; he had almost forgotten that he had even sent Spyro and Cynder down there, he had other concerns.

Asha walked into the throne room, she was still unharmed but had clearly been fighting.

"Sister. Has the situation within the city walls changed?"

"No, it's been an hour and no major internal assault has been launched, I believe there is no weakness in our defences. I suspect that this attack is cover, designed to keep us busy and buy time for our enemies to make their next move."

"I reached the same conclusion." Magmar said. The huge dragon rose from his throne and paced across the room. He had abandoned his armour for now. When he said nothing more Asha continued speaking.

"I advise that we send a reconnaissance team out to determine their plan and if possible to locate Malefor and this ice dragon Gracious."

"I have already done it. I expect reports at any moment. I have also prepared a lightly armoured force of dragons to battle the grublins and wyverns in the air, these pathetic creatures have only numbers as their advantage, now that we will no longer be armoured for battle on the ground our dragons will crush the swarm."

"But what about the siege ballista? There are at least four hundred of them. The dragons will be under fire from the orcs below."

"A risk worth taking. The grublins and wyverns themselves will shield our dragons from the aim of the bolts below."

"We can't be sure of that."

"No. But that's why I said it was a risk worth taking. We will not wait here for our enemies to make their next move; we will make them pay for daring to attack our city!"

Another fire dragon entered the room.

"A report on the state of the army outside, my lord." The dragon bowed.

"Speak." Magmar commanded.

"The enemy's current air force is estimated at between sixty and eighty thousand. Considering the number of grublins that are moving around through the stone at this moment the numbers our enemies have fielded may be as high as one hundred thousand. Adding in the ground troops we estimate Shattershelf is besieged by a total force of just over two hundred thousand. This flying division of the army has a clear purpose: to keep our military focus here and obscure our views of the plans, below us the orcs had brought forth battering rams and were destroying the dividing walls on the plains."

"They know that taking the main gate is their best chance of capturing Shattershelf. This was a logical tactic for them to take, I suspected as much. Can we successfully attack the battering rams from the air?"

"I fear not, the ballista have been repositioned to protect the larger siege weapons from any attack we might make."

"Can we send our forces out to destroy the flying swarms from the outside rather than waiting for the grublins to find their way into Shattershelf?"

"Skirmishes are feasible, but a major assault would almost certainly draw the aim of the ballista, orcs don't care how many of their fellows they kill if it means taking a shot at a dragon."

Magmar growled in irritation.

"These ballista are annoying me, can we get rid of them?"

"I can see no way to do so."

"Fine. Asha, inform the dragons I've chosen for this attack of the tactics they'll need to follow, make sure we have a safe retreat open for them if needed. Also tell them all that if they see any safe chance at turning so much as a single ballista into kindling then they are to seize it!"

Magmar whirled around back to the dragon who had scouted, his eyes blazing.

"One more thing, did you see Malefor, this ice dragon I've been warned about, or any other commander for the army?"

"We believe Malefor has taken position in one of the watchtowers in the mountain pass, we cannot locate any other commander or determine a ranking structure."

"How well defended is this watchtower?"

"Brother, I don't recommend we attempt to send dragons after Malefor."

Malefor looked at her, Asha met his gaze, for a long moment neither dragon said anything, and then Magmar turned away.

"I would go after him personally… but perhaps not. Very well, both of you have tasks to do, you may leave."

The scouting dragon left, as Asha went to depart as well Magmar spoke after her with a much more gentle tone to his usual growl.

"Thank you sister. You have been a great help."

"I do what I can for our city, and for you."

"Send Flare to me, please."

"I shall."

* * *

Spyro and Cynder had found the ice caverns with some help. Suna had only been fighting six grublins that had managed to break through one of the barricades in the window; he hadn't been that busy really. They'd helped out with finishing off the grublins, not that the fire dragon had needed their assistance; he was more than capable of taking down grublins. After they were done with the grublins Spyro had used his earth element to block the window, allowing the three of them to take a breather for a few moments.

"So what's new since this morning?" Suna asked. Spyro grinned and shook his head.

"Oh nothing much, there's just been a war on, and we got caught unexpectedly in a sudden downpour of grublins."

"Hang on, you were outside?"

"Yeah, we went outside in that first little battle."

"You're kidding right? They seriously let you guys out there?"

"And Flame and Ember." Cynder put in.

"That's not fair; we were stuck on guard duty. You two are lucky."

"It wasn't nice. They were all over us, horrible, scratching, screeching things."

"I didn't get touched. I used my wind to protect myself." Cynder smiled.

"She's the lucky one." Spyro said, tucking the black dragoness under his wing.

"So what are you two doing?"

"That's right, we're doing something." Spyro remembered. "Do you know where the entrance to the ice caverns is?"

"Course I do. Why?"

"Two dragons from the school have gone missing down there, Magmar asked us to search for them. He thinks grublins might be gathering in the caverns, do you want to come with us?"

"It's not like there's much to do up here." Suna said with a smile.

"Not at all." Spyro said, grinning. "It must be so boring guarding a besieged city from monsters that can pass through solid stone."

"They're hardly monsters; grublins are tiny compared to us."

"You weren't out there when they attacked us; trust me their size doesn't matter when there are thousands of them."

"Fair enough. Come on I'll show you to the ice caverns."

"Wait, are they cold?" Cynder asked warily.

"I don't think so."

"You're a fire dragon, you have cold resistance. I can't trust you."

"Are you afraid of the cold?"

Cynder didn't respond. Suna grinned.

"Come here." Spyro said. Cynder was already pressed against his side, but she squirmed a bit closer because she could. He tucked his wing around her tighter. "I'll keep you warm."

Cynder licked his cheek.

"I can't believe that you two are expected to do anything." Suna said, shaking his head at the couple's behaviour.

"We're famous for doing stuff." Spyro said brightly. "But we also get side-tracked a lot. Let's go to the ice caverns then."

* * *

The ice caverns were big, bigger than Cynder had expected, the upper levels had been built up. Originally this had been done by the peacekeepers, but the Shattershelf dragons had not let this part fall into disrepair, they had maintained and improved the original stairways and supporting walls to ensure that they had easy access to the water frozen in the caves when they needed it.

The ice caverns weren't as bad as the mountains of Darkmire's tomb, there was neither snow nor wind, but they were still a bit too cold for Cynder's tastes, she let Spyro keep her warm as they went.

The main part of the caverns was far below the ground but the dragons had constructed a series of stairways and sloping passages that looped around a central shaft of the caverns and descended into the depths. Spyro, Cynder and Suna followed this passage down. They had been walking for a few minutes when Cynder stopped the boys.

"Quiet." She whispered. Spyro and Suna had been discussing fire weapons some more but they obediently fell silent when Cynder spoke up.

The three dragons listened.

"I can hear something." Spyro whispered. "Cynder, you have sensitive hearing, is that a grublin?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it. Possibly more than one. Let me out please."

Spyro released Cynder, and she quickly realised the ice caverns were a bit colder then she had thought. She decided that she wanted Spyro to take her back again, but it was too late to change her mind now. She shivered but put the cold aside to focus on what was happening; she could cuddle Spyro later.

"I'll go first." Cynder said, using her wind magic to speak directly to Spyro and Suna so that they would not be heard. She manipulated the air around them to deflect more of the sound before moving on.

Cynder stepped into the air and drifted silently down the next set of stairs, as she reached the next room she spotted two grublins standing guard. Neither of them was watching the roof especially closely, so the black dragoness flipped herself upside down and walked softly across it.

Once she was above them Cynder paused for a moment before leaping down gracefully and slashing through both of them with wind blades.

"She's pretty cool." Suna said to Spyro.

"She's awesome." Spyro said proudly.

"And gorgeous."

"That too." Spyro agreed.

"Do you think she'd be interested?"

"Huh?" Spyro stared at the fire dragon; he had vaguely wondered if the fire dragon fancied Cynder but this direct question caught him by surprise.

Spyro's surprise quickly evolved into a whole mess of conflicting thoughts. He didn't know quite _what_ to think.

He liked Suna, and didn't think that the fire dragon was being malicious towards him or Cynder, but he was also annoyed at the upfront way in which he had asked, not to mention his sense of timing.

Spyro wasn't very knowledgeable about romantic relations between dragons; he only knew what he'd been told by Seizo and what he'd noticed from other couples like Volteer, Imperia and Flare.

Suna waited patiently as Spyro tried to deal with his internalized relationship crisis.

"I'm sorry; maybe I shouldn't have said that. She already likes you, I won't mess things up between you."

Spyro didn't respond immediately, after a while he decided there was only one thing he could do: be honest.

"She might. I don't know. I think you should ask her yourself."

"Just like that?" Suna asked.

"Yes. Cynder will appreciate that you were honest with her. I don't know what she would say though."

"Right. Thanks." Suna said. "Sorry about this. I just had to ask and I thought I'd talk to you about it. Are you okay with it? I really didn't think this through before I asked you."

"I don't know, it's Cynder's decision."

"I'll ask her."

The two of them stood in rather awkward silence for a few moments. Cynder walked up the stairs back to them.

"Hey, Cynder?" Suna began.

"You aren't seriously going to ask now are you?" Cynder said. "It's too cold for this."

Suna was entirely taken aback.

"Did you hear the whole thing?" the fire dragon asked.

"Every word." Cynder said. "This isn't the time to talk about it though."

"Right. We need to keep searching." Suna said, trying to hide his embarrassment.

Cynder turned and went back down the stairs. Spyro walked past the astonished fire dragon to follow her.

"Like I said, she's awesome." He said proudly, Suna nodded vaguely. Spyro bumped him. "Come on, she's going without us."

* * *

Suna knew where he was going, he suggested they start from the top of the ice caverns and search every section of the cave on their way down so that no grublins escaped their search and they could find the two dragons that had gone missing.

There were many small ledges and passageways, Cynder had no idea why the peacekeepers had done their building like that. The moles were usually more practical and so were the fire dragons and the apes, it seemed, most of the unnecessary passages had been blocked off.

Cynder took out three more grublins that had been keeping watch on the passageways down into the ice caverns.

"Why are there sentries?" Spyro whispered to the other two. "Why bother keeping watch if you're just going to hide?"

"The ice caverns are big; they could fit hundreds of grublins down here. When we reach the bottom levels you'll see, there's an entire frozen lake down there." Suna responded quietly. "But they can't have done that, we've been killing all of the grublins that have made it through the walls."

"Could grublins have been coming through down here?" Spyro asked at the same volume.

"The ice caverns are older than the city." Suna replied. "Older than our reinforcement of the walls, they aren't threaded with wire. But surely they wouldn't be coming through down here, it would take too long for them to get here, and what would the grublins be able to do anyway?"

"I don't think we're dealing with grublins anymore." Cynder said. "Malefor has got bigger things to send down here."

"It would take a really skilled earth dragon to dig this deep, a dragon like Magmar or your Guardian dragon Terrador probably wouldn't be fazed by wire anyway." Suna told them.

"Wait. Cynder, say that again. The last bit you said." Spyro asked, stopping and looking at the black dragoness. Cynder stopped too, shaking herself to stop the chill from sinking into her body.

"Malefor has got bigger things to send down here."

"They wouldn't." Spyro murmured.

Cynder caught on to what he was thinking.

"They probably would."

"What are you two talking about?" Suna asked.

"A golem." Spyro said.

"You mean the giant monster? I thought that thing was dead. I heard that _you_ killed it."

"We did kill it, and then we killed another one in the Catacombs, but if there are two then there's probably more."

"But why haven't we seen it on the battlefield yet?" Suna asked.

"Because it's the best tunneler they have; knowing our luck the first dragons to see the golem that Malefor and Gracious have brought here… will be us."

"There's probably a major attack coming." Cynder said.

The three dragons looked at each other, deciding what to do now, for a few seconds before their decision was made for them when they heard a scream.

"That way!" Cynder hissed, she spread her wings, hopped into the air and accelerated in the direction she'd indicated. Spyro ran after her as quickly as he could to prevent their chain from reaching its full length. Suna was right behind him.

Cynder emerged into the large cavern Suna had promised was at the bottom of the ice caverns. She found herself on the frozen shores of a huge dimly lit lake, there were a few glowing lights along the shores but most of the lake was shrouded in gloom.

There was one bright spot about a hundred meters out onto the icy surface that was not a glowing light, it was fire.

Two little dragons, about the same size as Spark, stood back to back surrounded by at least ten grublins. One of them had screamed, most likely the one that was now limping badly on his left paw.

Cynder didn't even hesitate, she whipped across the room, Spyro was yanked forwards a few meters when the chain reached its full length, but Cynder wasn't slowed down at all, she created wind blades on her wingtips and slashed several of the grublins apart as she landed beside the young dragons. Cynder maintained her spread wings to protect the young dragons and hissed dangerously at the remaining grublins. There were eight of them and they hesitated, realising that they had now encountered a much more dangerous enemy then the little fire dragons.

Cynder remained in her threatening pose for a moment longer, when the grublins didn't turn and run at the sight of her she gathered some magic and rapidly spat three poison shots, each one hitting a grublin and killing it in seconds. The last of the grublins decided it was a good time to run away, Cynder created a wind blade on her tail and with a graceful turn sent it sweeping after them, cutting down three more.

The remaining two grublins turned around when their companions were obliterated, and were each hit by a fireball at exactly the same moment.

Cynder looked around, Spyro and Suna had joined her, Suna grinned.

"Teamwork." Spyro said.

"Are you alright?" Cynder asked the young dragons. They nodded silently; the one with the injured paw threw himself forwards and clung to Cynder's foreleg. She wasn't sure how to react at first, but after a moment she leant down and nuzzled the little dragon. It was what Imperia would have done.

"It's going to be okay." She promised.

"Thank you, miss." The second dragon said. "But who are you? I don't recognise you. Except Suna." Suna grinned at the little dragon and nodded.

"Magmar heard that you two hadn't come back from your searching, he sent us down here to find you." Spyro said.

"Oh, that's cool. Thanks."

"We chased the grublins down here." The clinging dragon told Cynder. "There were four in our corridor and we chased them away, then the others came from behind us."

"We got a few of them as we ran." The uninjured dragon said proudly. "I told our teacher we were old enough to do searching. But then we came down here and we were surrounded and they kept on circling us and hitting until you came."

"You were very brave." Cynder said.

Spyro frowned; he twitched his paws, pressing them against the ice below his feet.

"Vibration." He said. He put his head on the ice and listened. "It's harder to tell through the ice."

"Is it the golem?" Suna asked warily.

"Almost certainly." Spyro said. Then he grimaced. "I may be reading this very wrongly, but I think it's not just one, I think there are two."

Cynder turned to the young fire dragons.

"I want you to run back up to the city and warn the others that there's an attack happening down here. It's very important that you go and don't stop until you reach the grownup dragons."

"But what about you?" The dragon clinging to Cynder's paw asked. Cynder nuzzled him again and gently prised him off her foreleg.

"We'll be fine. We've done this sort of thing before."

"Let's go!" The other fire dragon wrapped his tail around the injured one and started dragging him away from Cynder.

Spyro Cynder and Suna all looked across at one of the far walls as it began to shake, then a huge section of the stone cracked.

"Run!" Cynder yelled to the young fire dragons, and they did as she told them.

* * *

A huge hand emerged from the wall; the crack was forced open further until a head pushed through. The fiery eye pits of the golem fixed on the three waiting dragons, but the massive creature did not attack.

Even in the huge space of the frozen lake the Golem was cramped, the stone ceiling disrupted its movement; the monstrous creature had to crawl its way into the cavern hunched over. It's talon like legs slipped and scraped on the ice with a harsh screeching sound. Another section of the wall began to break and a new golem started to break through it.

"Those things are enormous." Suna said, awed. "We don't stand a chance against them."

"Yes we do. Spyro's attacks do a lot of damage to them, and I can keep them distracted until he can prepare an attack to finish them off. We've killed these things before."

"You two are insane. The way back to the surface is right _there,_ we can just run for it." Suna said. Spyro and Cynder made no sign of intending to run away. Suna shrugged. "Or we can stay and see how it goes. We may get lucky. I respect your courage."

"That's one of-" Spyro paused midsentence; he looked down as he felt more vibration in the ice, then he looked back up at the others. "That's not good."

One entire wall of the cavern exploded and a _third_ golem surged out of it, thrashing in the confined cave and roaring in fury. Its eyes locked onto the three dragons and it rampaged towards them, cracking the ice and stone as it came.

"What do you think, Spyro?" Cynder asked.

"Shall we try dragon time?"

"I'll make sure it doesn't get far, you take it down."

The world turned purple and the attacking golem edged its slow way towards them. Cynder flew around the head of the golem; she casually aimed wind blades into both of its burning eyes, the wind moved slowly but would hit it soon enough. Cynder wondered if she was able to use wind at normal speed while in dragon time or if everything around them was slowed.

Spyro used a comet dash on the golem, aiming for its throat, the flames he created hung in the air behind him because of the slowed time. It was quite a beautiful sight, Cynder thought. Spyro didn't do enough damage to the golem, so he quickly climbed over its body to the back of its head.

Cynder took over keeping dragon time active as Spyro's control faltered; they didn't have much longer left. She noticed the golem start to react to their attacks, still in slowed time it started to be knocked back by the effects of Spyro's comet dash.

The purple dragon fired an ice spike into the golem's head, targeting the place where it would have a dark magic crystal giving it energy. He did it a few more times to be sure, and then jumped off the golem. Cynder landed on the ice beside him a moment later.

Time returned to normal.

"I have no idea what you just did." Suna said.

The charging golem reeled at the impacts, unable to even roar in anger because of the suddenness of the attacks; and then it fell, cracking the ice around it.

"But _that_ was awesome." He added. "What was that?"

"Dragon time." Spyro said. "The ability to slow down time for a short while. It's just as useful as you'd expect."

"Can you do that whenever you want?" Suna asked, incredulous.

"It takes a moment's focus to activate, it doesn't last very long and it can't be used too often either." Spyro said.

"You're just being modest. That is epic!" Suna exclaimed.

The first golem was still looking at them, it shifted as if it wanted to attack them, but instead it turned and began to dig back out the same way it had come.

The second golem forced its shoulders out of the wall before backing up and disappearing into the rock again, all three of the golems had left broad tunnels behind them.

Cynder tilted her head as she heard walking paws. A dragon was coming down the tunnel. The three of them waited to see who it was.

* * *

Gracious emerged from the passage the golem had created. He leapt lightly onto the ice and sighed as he felt it under his paws.

"I've been waiting for this moment for so long." He said softly. "Finally I stand in Shattershelf again, no longer as a slave but as a conqueror."

"It's certainly a great moment. We're the welcoming committee."

Gracious looked across the ice, surprised. His eyes narrowed in recognition.

"You two. Stop this. Stop spoiling my plans, what is it that constantly puts you in my way?"

"Well, when you sprang your trap on us you happened to go and mention where you were heading next. We had to come here because we won't let innocent dragons die because of your quest for vengeance. Also you tried to kill us, so this is sort of payback." Spyro said.

"You owe nothing to these dragons. Stand aside and let me do what I came here to do."

"That's not going to happen." Spyro said.

"You're Gracious, aren't you? The ice dragon that came to destroy us." Suna said. He noted the ease and confidence with which the ice dragon stood, he wasn't quite as intimidating as Suna had expected, certainly not in comparison to Magmar, but he was still threatening.

"You are correct. I am Gracious. My offer stands to you as well, fire dragon. The four of us can have peace here. My business is specifically with your king."

"No." Suna said. "I won't let you into Shattershelf."

Gracoius sighed.

"You disappoint me. What of you, Spyro, Cynder?"

"I agree with Suna, you're going no further." Spyro said.

"You're aware that I could kill the three of you and complete my surprise attack anyway? This is just a minor setback."

"I'm afraid you're wrong on both counts there." Spyro said. "Your grublins were trying to kill two small dragons from the school and chased them down here. Now the two of them will be on their way to warn Magmar that you're coming."

"The grublins irritate me. They are not as easy to control as the orcs. Nor are golems, they have too much aggression. That should not have happened, and you shouldn't have been attacked by this one." Gracious stepped forwards, he gestured at the still shape of the golem they had brought down. He walked towards Spyro, Cynder and Suna. "So they've spoilt the surprise. You three will cause more trouble in the future I'm sure; if you won't surrender then I will kill you. This is your final chance."

"This is Shattershelf, fire dragon territory." Suna said. "You don't stand a chance against us on our own ground."

Gracious laughed. He made a point of looking around.

"These are the _ice_ caverns, foolish dragon. I am quite literally in my element here. I said I could kill you and I assure you that I'm more then able to do so. I'll take no pleasure in it, but it's time for you three to die."

Spyro turned to Suna.

"You just had to say that, didn't you? You just had to say it."

"I wasn't thinking." The fire dragon said. "Sorry."

Gracious pressed his paws against the icy floor; Spyro felt the power of the pale blue dragon running through the ice below their feet and sensed what Gracious was doing a moment before he did it.

"Up! Into the air!" He yelled.

Cynder and Spyro made it up just in in time as the entire floor of the cavern shifted and cracked, hundreds of razor sharp splinters of ice turned the cavern floor into a deadly trap.

Suna howled in pain as icy shards struck him, his hard scales deflected most of the attacks but several of them cut through and stabbed at him.

Gracious used his power to move a large sheet of the ice to crush the huge frame of the golem out of the way; in doing so he turned his attention away from Spyro, Cynder and Suna for a moment.

Spyro cursed, he dove back to the cavern floor, using his earth boulder quickly to smash an open landing space beside the wounded fire dragon. Spyro put his paws against the ice and retracted the shards around Suna. Suna staggered and Spyro supported him.

"Next time when I say up, you go up. Okay?"

"I'll keep that in mind." Suna said, he fought back the pain and stood straight.

Spyro looked around; Gracious had rapidly circled them so that he was between them and the way back up to Shattershelf.

"I am being very kind to you. I'll give you yet another chance to surrender." Gracious said.

"Stop giving us chances. We aren't going to take them." Cynder said.

She floated weightlessly across the cavern towards Gracious; the ice dragon watched her patiently. When she was in midrange Cynder spat poison at the ice dragon.

Gracious twitched and a wall of ice grew between them to catch the poison. The ice brought the poison to Gracious and he considered it.

"I assume that this is deadly. What is it?"

"It's a little bit deadly, in the short term all it would do is paralyse you, but if I didn't give you an antidote then you would eventually die."

"Interesting." Gracious glanced back up at Cynder. "And is-" He abandoned his question to dive aside as Cynder spat more poison at him.

"Sneaky." He growled. Cynder nodded.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Gracious pressed his paws against the ice and concentrated. A long icicle stabbed up from the frozen lakebed. Cynder twirled aside effortlessly. Gracious aimed another, but again Cynder danced aside.

"I can do this all day." Cynder said.

"Your elements are excellent." Gracious admitted. "Very powerful. I should not have underestimated you."

Gracious tried again, this time making not just an ice spear but a jagged thorny wall that rose up around Cynder. First he cut the both of them off from Spyro and Suna, then he targeted her directly. Right when Gracious expected to hit the black dragoness her body turned into nothing more than a shadow. The ice crushed the shadow but it trickled down through the thorns and spun itself back into Cynder once it was free of the trap. Shadows remained clinging to Cynder's body; she was prepared to use her power again at any time.

"Your brother made the same mistake." She said.

Gracious flinched.

Cynder frowned, she'd expected some reaction, but not like this.

"Please… do not speak of Seth." Gracious said.

"I won't." Cynder said. "I'm sorry."

She actually was sorry; the ice dragon looked pained, not just grieved but also ashamed. She wondered what had happened to him after his brother's death.

After a while the two of them heard one of the others use a fire attack on the ice wall to burn through it.

"I was trying to kill you wasn't I?" Gracious said.

"You were." Cynder confirmed.

There was a sound from behind her, she turned around to see the ice wall Gracious had created split into hundreds of jagged fragments, the fragments trembled in the air for a moment before hailing down on the dragons.

Spyro used an earth boulder to shield himself and Suna from the attack.

Cynder turned to shadow again and the rain of ice blades passed through her body harmlessly. She spread her wings and expanded the darkness to fill the cavern before advancing on Gracious. The ice dragon backed away from the shadow, not knowing how to combat the dragoness within.

Gracious retreated away from the door, spreading his wings and flying around the cavern to make space between himself and Cynder. The black dragoness was in no hurry, her creeping black fog was still expanding and she knew she'd catch him soon.

Gracious thought quickly, trying to work out some sort of weakness in Cynder's attack. While she was in the shadow he had no doubt she could become immaterial at any time, and she'd just phase through any ice attack he sent her way.

"Your elements really are impressive. You seem to have no weaknesses." Gracious said. Then he smiled. "But let's not be too hasty to assume that. I'd like to see how you'll cope with… this!"

Gracious reared up and spread his wings, breathing out as much as he could. Pure cold flowed from his body, and the ice in the room seemed to radiate an intense chill. The temperature in the cavern started dropping within seconds and Cynder felt the cold sweep right through her slender body.

She abandoned her shadows and leapt into the air, trying to position herself as far away from the cold surfaces as possible, but there was no escaping the rapidly falling temperature.

Gracious saw her begin to tremble and growled in victory.

"I win." He said.

"You're forgetting someone."

Gracious frowned and started to turn around; before he could complete the movement Suna hit him dead on with a comet dash.

Cynder couldn't keep flying; she fell to the ground and curled herself up in a ball, her entire body shivering violently. Spyro rushed to her and gathered her up, trying to warm her.

The temperature was no longer falling now that Gracious had been distracted, but it was still much colder than it had been. Suna threw fire at Gracious, forcing the older dragon to retreat, but when he tried to hit him with another comet dash the ice dragon surprised him with his extraordinary speed, striking the fire dragon hard and knocking him off balance before aiming to finish him off with a series of ice attacks. Suna scrambled out of the way of Gracious' attack. Gracious was not toying with the fire dragon, he made all of his attacks lethal, but Suna was as fast as Spyro was, and that was just fast enough to keep him alive.

"Help!" He yelled.

Spyro looked up from Cynder to see the fire dragon throw himself away from a spear of ice Gracious had launched. Spyro was torn, Cynder was in danger and so was Suna, he had to keep Cynder warm, but Suna didn't stand a chance against the ice dragon.

"Go." Cynder whispered. "I'll be fine. Help him."

"You won't be fine!" Spyro exclaimed, clutching her to him tighter. "It's too cold for you."

"I'll be fine." She insisted. "Just hurry back… please." Cynder feebly tried to push Spyro away. Her strength was gone, replaced by the numbing chill.

Spyro went, and left Cynder to the cold.

Suna had taken an ice spear in the side, it cut deeply and sent lances of pain through him whenever he moved. He knew he couldn't keep fighting for long. Gracious moved in for the kill, calm and confident, preparing to finish the fire dragon off quickly and efficiently. As he gathered his magic he felt magic that wasn't his in the ice below his feet.

He leapt aside just in time as Spyro turned the patch of ice he had stood on into a bed of spikes. Spyro rushed to Suna and checked him for injuries.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm okay. Where's Cynder?"

Spyro pointed, Suna saw Cynder curled up and not moving on the ice, she looked very small and weak.

"What's wrong with her?" Suna asked, shocked at seeing her like this.

"It's the cold; she can't cope with it like we can without a fire or ice element."

"Will she be okay?"

"I don't know." Spyro hesitated. "We can't leave her; go, keep her warm for me."

"What? But you-"

"Doesn't matter, this is the best choice we have. Just keep her safe."

Suna looked at Cynder again, he nodded.

"I will."

Spyro turned back to Gracious.

"Let's warm things up a bit in here."

He breathed in and exhaled a firestorm.

* * *

Cynder was barely able to think, she had closed her eyes against the cold and knew almost nothing of what was happening around her, this was much more intense than it had been at Darkmire's tomb, but there was no wind, she could be grateful of that much at least.

She felt a warm dragon pick her up and hold her. She opened her eyes slightly, just enough to see the dragon's red colour.

"What are you doing?" She asked quietly.

"Not letting you die." He replied.

"Right." She mumbled. He was warm; she wrapped herself around him, snuggling and allowing him to hold her close. "Don't get any ideas." She said.

"I'll try not to." He said, draping his wings over her. Cynder sighed, she wasn't warming up yet, but Suna had taken the chill out of her surroundings. At least she no longer felt like she was about to freeze to death.

"Thanks Suna."

"No problem."

* * *

Gracious was getting annoyed by this. Cynder had been bad enough, posing a formidable threat to him and delaying his attack on the dragons he actually _wanted_ to kill. He had taken her out of the fight in a way that should have crippled Spyro's own fighting effectiveness, but the purple dragon was still posing a problem.

"Why won't you just die?" He complained. He created ice spikes to spear the annoyance, but while Spyro was not nearly as skilled as Gracious he was skilled enough to weaken Gracious' attacks and evade them.

"That'll be the last thing I'll do." Spyro joked. "You're good with your ice element, nearly as good as Cyril."

"I've learned from the best." Gracious said briefly.

Gracious split the ice below them, manipulating entire sheets of the stuff to try to crush Spyro. He got the purple dragon trapped and slammed tonnes of ice down on him, but Spyro used an earth boulder to protect himself from the attack then began to glow with heat. He shattered the weakened ice and sent it flying at Gracious, then followed up with lightning. Gracious used more ice to protect himself, Spyro took advantage of the break in attacks to create another firestorm.

Gracious launched ice spikes into the fire, Spyro used them to judge where the ice dragon was standing and fire bolts of lightning in that direction. Gracious was backed up into one of the tunnels the golems had dug for him.

Spyro realised where the ice dragon had gone and worked out how he could take advantage of it.

He considered calling Suna over to help him, but he was sure he was capable of what he wanted to do on his own.

Gracious waited patiently for the firestorm to abate, he radiated cold at it to try to chill it and make it more difficult for Spyro to maintain. The purple dragon had a huge amount of mana, but he couldn't maintain so much fire forever. Gracious only had to wait; he backed away as on the other side of the firestorm Spyro inched forwards.

Spyro put his paws on solid stone again, he didn't mind fighting on ice, but when he was up against a dragon like Gracious any other type of terrain was a relief.

This time however, stone wasn't just evening the odds; it was putting them firmly in Spyro's favour. He advanced a few steps forwards, closing his eyes as he strained to keep his fire going. Then he found a fault in the stone.

He put his paws against it, using both fire and earth at the same time for separate tasks was a unique challenge, but he was able to extend his power around the cavern, after a moment he worked out what force he needed and he roared with determination as he used his power to bring down the tunnel.

Gracious looked up as the ceiling cracked, he had only seconds before it collapsed he was sure. He cursed furiously as he turned tail and flew as fast as he could back up the tunnel.

Spyro cut off his fire, looked up, saw the ceiling about to come down on top of him and yelped. He shot from the tunnel back into the ice cavern and glided a way across the frozen lake before falling. Behind him the tunnel collapsed with an echoing roar.

* * *

 **I'd really love to get more reviews...**

 **In fact, I have an incentive for you to write a decent review: The writer of the review I consider the best will get the chance to read the next TWO chapters of my story without having to wait.**

 **"Radical freedom!"**

 **-4Dragons**


	24. Hero's Duty

**I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has read this far for sticking with this story. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have.**

 **I have two songs for the later part of this chapter, both are by Two Steps From Hell, who are best known for their extremely epic, grand and intense music. These links may work, I added a few spaces so that hopefully the spam detector doesn't eat them.  
Stength of a Thousand Men: watch?v= qwJj2EpC8vg  
and Dragon Rider: watch?v= EptSSXNHIfg**

 **Story now:**

* * *

Spyro staggered to his feet, after a moment he collected himself and walked back to Suna and Cynder.

"That was intense." He said.

"That was awesome. You beat him!" Suna said.

"It was more of a draw I think. Gracious will be back, that collapse won't have killed him. Can you two walk?"

"I could walk." Suna said. He unfolded one of his wings to reveal Cynder, the black dragoness had her eyes closed, and when she felt the cool air she shivered slightly and pressed closer to Suna.

Spyro leant over her and nuzzled her.

"You can't fall asleep yet, Cynder." He said. The black dragoness murmured something indecipherable in reply and tried to snuggle down.

"We need to go. Come on, stand up."

"She's peaceful." Suna said. "And she's pretty comfortable."

"Don't even start. We agreed that if I said up then you'd up, didn't we?"

"That was about ice." Suna said. "It's different." He reluctantly climbed to his feet, Cynder made a sound of displeasure and tried to cling to the fire dragon, but she wasn't strong enough to.

"It must be awful not to have cold resistance. Look at what it's done to you." Spyro said sympathetically to Cynder, he nudged the black dragoness gently.

Cynder opened her eyes, she frowned, trying to work out what was going on, and then she noticed Spyro and Suna standing above her.

"I'm tired." She said in a trembling voice.

"We can tell." Spyro smiled kindly. "I can give you a ride if you want."

"Did we win?"

"For now." Spyro said. "But we've got to go before he comes back."

"Good." Cynder mumbled.

Spyro lay down and shifted Cynder onto his back. She wrapped her body around him for warmth and closed her eyes again.

Spyro and Suna walked for the exit, Spyro flattened the spiked ice that he and Gracious had left around the chamber. They progressed slowly, but they made it to the path and started climbing the stairs back up to Shattershelf.

"Can we bring the path down?" Spyro asked. "We need to stop Shattershelf being attacked from down here."

"Perhaps. Some of the stairways bridge gaps; it'll slow them down at least if we collapse some of the path."

"You tell me which points will be most effective."

"Got it. There's one just up here."

Spyro and Suna stopped at a section where the stairway had been built out over the cavern. Spyro considered the stone.

"Is this part going to be reinforced by razor wire?"

"I'm not sure, but I know that one of the landings coming up is wired, so it could probably be."

"Right. This might even be enough to stop them then."

Spyro put his paws on the stone and sent his power running through it. The stone trembled for a moment before it collapsed.

Spyro had made sure to leave the part he was standing on stable; he wouldn't be able to fly back up to where the path went while also carrying the barely conscious Cynder.

The two dragons went to the edge and looked down. They could hear sounds echoing up from below them orcs, trolls, or worse, Spyro didn't know and he was in no mood to find out. Gracious would be coming too, and he would be angry.

Cynder raised her head and crawled off Spyro's back.

"What happened?" She asked.

"We're collapsing the stairway so that they can't follow us and reach Shattershelf." Spyro told her.

"Right. Good job." Cynder said. She swayed as she stood and Spyro put his wing over her to keep her steady. Cynder smiled in gratitude and rested her weight on him.

The three dragons kept going back to Shattershelf; Cynder sat to rest, the cold was coming back and so was the shivering, she knew she wouldn't last much longer. Spyro collapsed another part of the tunnel floor. The sounds of Gracious' attack force were growing louder. The dragons looked up, startled, when they heard a howl of anger.

"He's reached the first collapse." Spyro said. "He'll fly straight across it. We aren't going to make it!"

He dragged Cynder to her feet and the three of them fled down the tunnel.

"Here! Collapse this!" Suna yelled. He ran to one of the walls and smacked it with his tail. Spyro hurried to it and put his paws against it.

" _You!_ " Gracious roared at them, storming into the corridor.

" _Me!_ " Spyro roared back as he collapsed the roof.

Gracious leapt back as the stone fell and he was cut off from the dragons again. He gathered power and unleashed his magic and his fury on the stone.

Spyro, Suna and Cynder shared a look as they heard a deep crunch from the other side of the rock fall and a roar of anger.

"He's pretty pissed off." Spyro observed.

There was another crunch, rocks broke.

"He'll smash his way through." Cynder said urgently.

"We've got to go." Suna agreed.

Spyro collapsed the tunnels twice more as they ran; eventually they left the sound of the ice dragon's pursuit behind them. Then they heard a dragon in the passage ahead of them.

"Could he have flown ahead of us?" Spyro asked.

"I don't know." Suna whispered.

The three of them waited for whoever was approaching, but it wasn't Gracious this time, it was Asha.

None of them had ever been so glad to see her.

"We're being chased!" Suna said.

"By what? Give me numbers and a rough threat level. Is there a major attack going on from here?"

"Yes. The ice dragon Gracious is behind us. He used golems to dig tunnels to bring orcs through into the bottom of the ice caverns."

"Gracious is here?" Asha asked.

There was an echoing booming sound from the passage behind them, followed by a roar.

"That would be him." Suna said.

"Right." Asha said. "We were wondering where he was hiding."

More fire dragons joined them in the corridor; Asha looked around and briefed the dragons on what she wanted from them.

"One of our most dangerous enemies is in the cave below us. The servant of Malefor and rouge ice dragon, Gracious. If he escapes alive we'll almost certainly need to deal with him again later, if we can kill or capture him now then we may be able to end this siege quickly."

"Don't underestimate him." Spyro warned. "He's on almost the same level as the guardians of Warfang."

"Understood." Asha considered the fire dragons and gave more specific orders. "Don't overly concern yourself with taking him alive, but if you get a safe chance then we may be able to make some use of him."

Asha turned back to Spyro, Suna and Cynder.

"You three look exhausted; you should get medical attention and have some rest. We'll deal with this, you've earned a break."

Cynder had managed well up until then, but now they were out of danger.

She fainted on the spot.

* * *

The General, acting commander of the orc army, was rapidly informed that Gracious' infiltration of Shattershelf had been unsuccessful. The infiltration had been the most risky part of the plan, and therefore Gracious and Malefor had not relied on it to take the city, the majority of the orc forces were aboveground, and the city could feasibly be destroyed by their present means.

The General rose from where it had been crouched on the mountainside; its limbs creaked as it moved, they always did.

It leapt off the mountain and fell towards the valley, unfurling its draconic wings to land easily among the rows of orcs it commanded.

The air attack had been a success in that it had allowed the orcs to destroy the dividing walls of Shattershelf in safety, but the fire king had realised what they were planning and sent out dozens of dragons to battle the grublins and wyverns in the skies above the city. Against dragons the air force of the besieging army was hopelessly outmatched.

The dragons had used their superior speed, manoeuvrability, range and firepower to obliterate over ten thousand wyverns in less than twenty minutes. Adding to this the number of grublins that had died in slipping through the walls of Shattershelf and approximately a fifth of the currently attacking horde had been destroyed already.

The General walked among its army. The orcs reacted to its presence; each reaction was slightly different in a way that casual observers would miss. The General noticed these differences, unlike the orcs it was a fully intelligent creature. Unlike the orcs The General was capable of cruelty and kindness; unlike the orcs it was capable of obsession.

The General was obsessed with the orcs; their minds fascinated the haunting skeletal creature endlessly. Each one was ever so slightly different, but why? Was it because of Malefor's thoughts at the moment when he had created them? Did they learn from experience? Was it a because of the kind of earth they had been created from? The General desired answers to these questions, it wanted to know things.

Two fire dragons had died, one had been overwhelmed by the wyverns and brought down by hundreds of attacks, the other had chosen to attempt an attack on the siege ballista that guarded the battering rams and had been cut down by a storm of arrows.

The General ignored the ruins of the siege ballista it walked past; the dragons had been quite determined to destroy them and had succeeded in destroying at least forty of them. A third dragon had been downed during its attempt, but this one was still alive.

The General stopped above the last fire dragon, she was badly wounded, but the creature had little doubt that she would survive if she was not deliberately killed. Orders had been given by Gracious to kill every fighting dragon that they had the chance to kill, but the General did not necessarily need to follow them. Malefor did not wish dragons to die without cause, and the General had been created with the same value for life that the purple dragon possessed.

It knew other things about Malefor too, things that the great purple dragon had only ever confided to one other.

"Bind her. Do not kill her. Take her to Malefor." The General rasped its orders to the orcs; it watched them do as instructed, as ever each one behaved in a slightly different way.

The fire dragoness snarled at the General, but she was ignored.

There was a war to be won, and those orders were not currently negotiable, they had to be carried out and Shattershelf had to fall. Malefor was to have his victory.

Now that the golems of the deep were no longer required to tunnel into the ice caverns the General regained control of them and summoned them onto the battlefield.

As the remaining two massive creatures emerged from the earth the General commanded the clouds of grublins and wyverns to retreat to the mountaintops, the commander of the orc army no longer felt a need to keep the Shattershelf dragons busy within their city any longer.

It was time for the last phase of the attack, breaking down the Shattershelf gate.

High above the city and the field Malefor watched the battle unfold, he was rather curious to hear what Gracious had to say about his loss in the Ice Caverns. That Spyro and Cynder had personally stopped him there was interesting to Malefor, but he was not been surprised to learn that Gracious had encountered resistance.

Malefor found unplanned elements like this amusing, but Gracious' defeat was of no concern to his own plans.

Spyro and Cynder needed only to be capable of one more heroic act.

* * *

When Cynder came too she was lying beside Spyro in a ward bed, she couldn't remember being taken here and she supposed she had been carried. She felt comfortable and, equally important, she felt warm. Spyro had put his wing over her like a blanket. She slowly raised her head; her strength was coming back to her.

There were fire dragons hurrying around, Suna was on a bed nearby with a bandage over his side from where he'd been hit by Gracious' ice spear.

Several young dragons had come in with minor wounds from fighting grublins; she spotted the young fire dragon with the injured paw that she had saved in the ice caverns. He was talking to Spark, who seemed to be fine.

"You're awake." Spyro said. He leant over and kissed her forehead gently "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay." She said. She rested her head on Spyro's back. "But I really don't like the cold."

"That's understandable." Spyro said.

Cynder lay there with Spyro, happy just to be beside him. After a while she felt ready to get up and start functioning again. She curled her tail around Spyro and cuddled him, as she had planned to do since the ice caverns.

Spyro sighed, relaxing into Cynder's embrace. She put her paws around his belly and squeezed him. Her tail stroked along his underside.

"This isn't a good place." He said reluctantly, he turned in Cynder's grip until they were nose to nose, her tail stayed where it was but she didn't go any further.

"I don't care." Cynder said. "Right now I honestly just don't care."

They kissed slowly, Spyro half turned to be lying partially on top of Cynder. They closed their eyes and just enjoyed being together. Cynder breathed in, smelling Spyro.

"I want to take you out to dinner again." Spyro murmured to Cynder around their kiss. "Some time soon."

"I'd like that." Cynder said, curling herself up around Spyro. He stroked her scales, kissing her deeply.

"Would you two get a room?"

Cynder looked up startled. Spark was standing right above her, looking down at her and Spyro. She scowled at the young red dragon to cover her embarrassment.

"This _is_ a room." She said with a threatening tone. Spyro got off of her; she sighed and rolled onto her belly.

"What do you want?" Spyro asked.

"Nothing, you two were just making a scene." Spark grinned.

"Nothing?" Spyro repeated.

"Pretty much." Spark laughed and jumped off their bed before running back to where he had been. He immediately started discussing something quietly with the other young dragon.

Cynder scowled after him before sitting up. Spyro sat up too and the two of them looked around the ward.

"I'm hungry." Cynder said.

"Let's get some food." Spyro said in agreement.

"Hey, you're awake."

Cynder glanced around. Suna had approached them, he looked a little bit nervous.

"Are you okay?" He asked Cynder. She nodded.

"I am, thanks to you and Spyro." Cynder said.

"Mostly Spyro." Suna said. There was a moment's silence. "So anyway… I was… umm." He sighed. "You already know how I feel about you, is now a good time for me to ask if you're okay with that?"

"Now's a good time." Cynder said. There was only a war on, after all.

"Right. Cool." Suna tried to work out what to say, but couldn't think of anything.

"Why do you like me like that?" Cynder asked. "I want to know your reason if that's okay."

"Well. I guess it's basically three reasons. First is just your looks, you are really… sexy." Suna grinned before continuing.

"Okay. I know that just going based on looks is shallow and that, so when I first saw you I was going to just admire you and forget about it. But then I found out you're an amazing fighter, you're skilled and powerful and I respect that. Thirdly you have a great personality, you're kind and clever and really brave. So that's pretty much why I like you."

Suna grinned again, pleased that he had managed to say what he wanted to say. His grin really was a lot like Spyro's, in short it was cute. Cynder was flattered by the praise; she smiled in a bashful way.

"Thanks. That's really nice Suna." She looked at Spyro. "We haven't really talked about this…"

"I'm cool with it. You can do what you want." Spyro said. He'd been thinking about it since Suna had brought it up and reached a final decision while Cynder had been unconscious. Dragons could and often did have multiple relationships at once; Volteer, Imperia and Flare were an obvious example. Cynder was free to do as she wished in Spyro's opinion, he trusted her completely.

She leant forwards and she and Spyro touched noses, she gave him a quick kiss. Spyro smiled and nuzzled her. They turned back to Suna, Cynder gave him a smile.

"I'd love to go on a date with you sometime and see how it goes, now might be a bad time for that though. The city is still under siege isn't it? Or was I unconscious for longer than I thought?"

"Yep, still besieged." Spyro said. "But Asha did say that we'd earned a break from the fighting."

"Also Spyro would probably need to come along, considering that we're chained together." Cynder remembered. "You'd have to share." She added coyly.

Suna nodded.

"That's cool; I'd be fine with a triple date." He said, and then he frowned. "But what chain are you talking about?"

Cynder tapped her throat and the glowing snake charm appeared there. Spyro did the same thing.

"Malefor had someone put these things on us; we have to stay within about two hundred meters of each other."

"That's weird. Why would he do that?" Suna asked.

"We're not quite sure really." Spyro said.

"Do you want to find out why?"

"Maybe, unless it's a nasty, evil reason, like 'so you can die together' or something. Then I'd prefer not to know."

"We can ask him when we eventually meet face to face again." Cynder said.

"The snake bands do look pretty good on you two." Suna said, amused.

Spyro shrugged.

"I guess so."

* * *

A distant booming sound made the city walls tremble. Spyro and Cynder looked up to see what was going on.

"What was that?" Cynder asked.

"I think that the main gate just got rammed." Suna said cautiously.

"It's designed to withstand that, right?" Spyro said.

"Not for long."

"That's bad then." Spyro said. He turned to Cynder. "Ready to be a hero again?"

"Sure." She got up with a smile. It would be nice to fight in a warm area again, she decided. She looked across at Suna. "You can't fight with that wound. We'll come back and discuss date arrangements then."

"I could fight if I needed to, but you two can handle it without me. I'll look forward to that then."

Spyro and Cynder managed to find the main gate without too much difficulty. Inside the main gate was a very large cavern full of buildings and narrow streets. This area had been crafted _out_ of the rock, rather than being tunnelled into it.

The crack in the mountain that Cynder and Spyro had seen from outside was what had made this larger cavern possible. Cynder liked this part of the city, there was plenty enough open space for her to fly.

Several fire dragons travelling in the same direction ignored the ground level streets and flew to the rooftops to get to the main gate, Spyro and Cynder did the same thing. By the time they arrived there was a crowd of dragons around the gate. Magmar stood before the doors, whatever ram had been brought to destroy them was swung again. There was a whoosh as the massive thing accelerated and a thunderous boom as it hit the doors. The fire king didn't even flinch.

"The same strategy we used effectively on the outer walls. We no longer need to concern ourselves with overwhelming aerial attack. Only a few orcs can enter the gate at a time, kill them as they come. At most recent count three dragons have died or been incapacitated in this conflict; over thirty thousand of our enemies are destroyed. We are winning."

Magmar took a few steps away from the door and turned towards it. He waited. The ram beyond the doors swung again. There was a crunch, something in the door broke.

"COME ON THEN! I'LL TEAR YOU ALL TO PIECES!" Magmar howled at the door.

Spyro noticed Asha standing on the edge of the crowd with Flare.

"Did Gracious escape?" He asked, walking over.

"Unfortunately. He took the life of one of our dragons before he fled. You did well not to die against him, he is very dangerous."

"Thanks. It's a shame that you didn't get him, but Malefor would probably keep the attack going even if Gracious was killed."

"The situation outside has gotten worse. The orcs have brought rams right up to the gate; the outer walls are entirely destroyed. Two golems have been called out of the earth; they're being used to guard our other gates to stop us from sending out strike teams."

"We can still win, the city defences are excellent." Flare said thoughtfully. "But there's something bigger going on behind this siege, something isn't quite right about it."

"We can work that out after we've won the siege." Asha said. She walked away to join her brother before the gate. He nodded to her with a grin that was equal parts fondness and bloodlust.

The ram swept forwards. There was not a boom this time but a wicked crack. The integrity of the door was gone now, one more blow and it would fall.

Spyro looked over at Cynder.

"Are you ready?"

"I'm ready." Cynder confirmed.

There was one final rush of movement from the ram and the doors exploded open.

Orcs surged through the broken gate like the water from the sea. Just as vast and unstoppable as the waves, and just as unforgiving to any fire dragon that was in its path.

Magmar spat fire and lava, he started to combine his earth element with his fire to add impact and weight to his attacks, trying to simply pulverise his enemies with large scale damage.

Atop the ram a skeletal winged creature stood, it was armed with a sword and shield. Cynder didn't know what it was, but it looked menacing. It was watching the fight in a detached manner, she guessed it was some sort of commander and pointed it out to Spyro.

"We've fought those things before. But they don't usually have wings." Spyro said. "It looks important standing up there. Maybe we should try to take it out."

"I think we'll be a bit busy." Cynder said.

Magmar and Asha were forced back from the gateway but the sheer numbers of orcs rampaging through it. The invaders paid dearly for every inch of ground they gained, but through sheer numbers they slowly began to establish control of the Shattershelf gates and advance.

The fire dragons were pushed back into the narrow streets and Spyro and Cynder were rapidly caught in the middle of the chaos.

* * *

Orcs and dragons were fighting all around them, Cynder had trouble processing who was where and what was happening. Spyro started using his ice and fire to destroy the orcs as they charged at him. That turned out to be too slow, so Spyro used his comet dash to clear the whole street of orcs. Cynder dispatched a few orcs that the powerful purple dragon had missed before taking to the air and floating over the rooftops of the buildings.

From up here she had an excellent view of what was going on. The orc army had managed to spread out enough to no longer be fighting in battle lines, now they were rampaging through the streets and houses looking for dragons to attack.

Spyro struck down all orcs that he saw with ease, Cynder watched over him from the air and killed a few orcs that might otherwise have snuck up on him unaware.

From above Cynder could see the battle unfolding. She watched as a seemingly endless stream of Orcs flowed through the gates and into the narrow streets. What they lacked in power individually they made up for in numbers and in fury.

Spyro took to the air and flew beside Cynder, the couple made a tempting target for the orcs below them, and arrows were soon fired. Cynder casually deflected them with her wind magic, keeping the two of them safe as Spyro got his breath back.

Magmar, Asha and Flare fought together, nothing could stand before the three fire dragons. Magmar considered the battle with his burning eyes.

"Flare. Asha. We're leaving."

"Brother!"

"I don't care. We can do nothing here. We're leaving." Magmar turned and walked away.

As Magmar had predicted the absence of the three dragons had little effect on the battle; it was still just as hopeless as it had been before.

"We're not making any progress. There's a whole sea of orcs out there and this is only the beginning of the attack. They'll keep coming and fighting and dying in here until the room fills up with their bodies and there will still be more left to come."

Spyro nodded.

"We don't have much choice. We just have to…" Spyro trailed off.

"Did you just have a stupid, suicidal, heroic, selfless idea?"

"Walk straight out of the gate."

"We'd probably die."

"With Dragon Time we could get out there safely past the ram, and then we cut loose and take down all the orcs we can hit."

"You've got me convinced." Cynder smiled. "I love you Spyro, all of your heroic ideas included. Let's do it."

"I love you too Cynder. Try not to die."

"I wasn't planning to. You try not to either."

Spyro grinned.

"Well, we never have before."

"No, I think we'll win." Cynder nodded.

"Let's do it."

* * *

Imperia twirled the Dragonslayer casually. Despite its extraordinary length and weight it felt natural held lightly in her paws. She spotted a Wyvern inside the window and tucked her wings, diving straight through. With an easy lunge Imperia speared the unlucky creature; the tower room was filled with wyverns and grublins. Imperia's dive took her into the centre of the room, she swept the Dragonslayer in a large arc and then continued her spin, creating a wind blade on her tail and sweeping it around her. Imperia laughed easily as she spun and danced.

Enemies on the floors below Imperia's were quickly finished off by other dragons. It took them only a few minutes to clear out the watchtower.

Imperia took the stairs upwards. She sprawled herself on the rooftop and watched the siege of Shattershelf. The Warfang dragons had come down on the thousands of grublins perched in the mountain passes from above. This tower was one of several, and the grublins that had been roosting here had only been some of many to be obliterated by the Warfang dragons.

Imperia hadn't counted their numbers, but she estimated that Terrador had organised at least two hundred dragons to bring to Shattershelf. The four Guardians who had been in Warfang at the time were with the army, Terrador, Volteer, Cyril and Imperia herself. It was a force that was certainly capable of turning the tide of the battle below.

Their arrival had not gone unnoticed, below her Imperia could see the grublins that had survived their attack flying down to the main army. Nasty looking siege weapons were turned towards them, Imperia recognised siege Ballista. As a skilled wind dragon she was in no danger from such weapons, but they made it difficult for the rest of the Warfang dragons to sweep down and destroy the orcs from above.

She sensed a dragon approaching. She looked around to see Terrador arrive on the rooftop behind her; she smiled, welcoming him. He looked slightly amused upon seeing Imperia's relaxed pose, but she'd done her job, this tower was cleared.

"How are we doing?" She asked him.

"Most of the mountainside is under our control. A sizeable portion of the orc army was encamped here; we have destroyed most of the aerial force present. There are approximately one hundred thousand ground troops and perhaps twenty thousand flying grublins still alive."

"We can't take them by surprise anymore." Imperia stared down at the horde below them. "I never thought Malefor would be able to create so many."

"I've commanded numerically inferior forces before; there are strategies we can use in a situation like this. I think we'll win."

"I believe you." Imperia smiled warmly.

Terrador sat himself down beside the wind dragoness and looked at the city of Shattershelf.

"Malefor is a serious threat and we have not yet located him. I don't want to commit to an attack before we know what we're up against."

Imperia hummed thoughtfully.

"That's fair strategy. How about other commanders? Do we know who's in charge of all these monsters?"

"Not definitely, Seizo thinks Malefor may have one or more dragons in command here. Possibly including a dragon that does, or previously did, reside in Shattershelf."

"Your trainee for earth guardian is quite a brilliant young dragon. You must be proud."

"I am indeed proud." Terrador smiled. "It was a risk, committing so many of our dragons to what could have been a false lead."

"What's life without some risk?" Imperia smiled playfully.

"Safer." Terrador returned the dragoness' smile.

"Touché." Imperia laughed, she shifted slightly from where she was lying and sighed as she stretched her back. "But it paid off for us this time."

"A measured risk usually does, I am not against taking them. I just felt I could make a witty comeback."

"I'm proud of you Terrador."

"Thank you."

The respective earth and wind Guardians sat together for several seconds in comfortable silence.

Suddenly Imperia sat up; she looked at the gates of Shattershelf.

"Did you jus-?" Her question trailed off into shocked silence as the battering ram exploded.

* * *

Malefor sat on one of the walls of Shattershelf. Gracious was below him, among his army. Malefor was no longer concerned with the ice dragon. He was focused on the mountains above, where the Warfang dragons now looked over the siege.

He could see about fifty dragons, but he knew there were more he couldn't see. As he watched the moving silhouettes he tried to match names to the figures he saw. Terrador, Volteer, Cyril and Imperia, the guardian dragons would be up there, he sat and attempted to spot which ones they were. He also knew that somewhere up there would be Seizo, the young earth dragon who had supposedly worked out what Malefor was planning using a chessboard, and the shy dragoness he was dating, Miasma, with her very unusual elements. He was quite interested to meet those two young dragons.

But another meeting came first. An explosion shook the city, including the wall on which Malefor waited. He stood easily, it was time.

At last.

Malefor spread his wings and crouched before taking flight. As he looked down on the army he had created for this moment he allowed himself to smile.

* * *

 **I've been waiting for this for a long time.**

 **-4Dragons**


	25. Ultimatum

**I have three things I want to make clear to everyone:  
** **Firstly: Dragons can take multiple mates if they choose to.  
** **Secondly: SpyroXCynder is and will remain this focus of this story.  
** **Lastly: I shall continue to write this story as well as I can.**

* * *

 **I don't want to give you too many pieces of music at once, but I have three for you this time.**

 **Protectors of the Earth, by Two Steps From Hell. If you liked the Two Steps songs from last chapter then I think you'll love this one. It feels like it has a more serious tone. Play it for Spyro and Cynder's fighting.**

 **The Eternal Night: Main Theme, from the Legend of Spyro soundtrack. Thanks goes to Bout1banana for suggesting this one, I suggest playing it when Spyro and Cynder meet Malefor.**

 **Thirdly is the theme song I've chosen for Malefor:  
You're Not Me, from the Yu-Gi-Oh movie soundtrack. If you listen to nothing else then please listen to this, and please tell me what you think.**

* * *

"Hold on to me." Cynder offered her paw to Spyro. Spyro felt a surge of love for the black dragoness in that moment.

He took her paw with a smile, then Cynder moved herself under him and Spyro wrapped his other paw around her slender waist. It was the same position Cynder had used when she'd flown the two of them at supersonic speed. Spyro held on to her tightly.

Cynder smiled, feeling Spyro embrace her. "I'm aiming for that ram, just so you know."

"I'll deal with the ram, and I can use dragon time to get us there."

"Thanks Spyro."

The world turned purple, Cynder focused on her wind and sent the two of them straight toward the ram. She casually swiped arrows that were barely moving from their path, the two dragons appeared as no more than a dark streak of colour to the world around them.

They reached the ram in a few seconds, and with dragon time not even a single second had passed around them. Spyro let Cynder go. He mouthed words that reached Cynder with a slight delay.

"You may want to keep your distance."

She nodded.

It was time to cut loose.

Cynder used the wind to throw herself to a safe distance, as Spyro stopped his dragon time and the world returned to normal. Cynder looked back to him just in time to see him silhouetted against the firestorm that he created.

The huge machine was shredded into scrap, pieces of metal flew everywhere and the entire battle paused for a few seconds.

Spyro landed in the middle of the destruction he had caused with a roar. Before any of the orcs could react he inhaled deeply and breathed another massive torrent of fire, razing everything in front of him for fifty metres.

Arrows were fired, Cynder used her wind to flick them away from Spyro and he gave her a quick nod and smile in gratitude. Knowing he was safe from ranged attacks Spyro looked back at the sea of orcs before him.

"Let's do this."

Spyro's magic swept around him like a storm, even from a distance Cynder could feel the power he was controlling. The air crackled with lightning and energy, Spyro stepped forwards as his power surged furiously, and then he charged.

Orcs were thrown aside before Spyro even reached them or died on the spot as he passed, he was a storm, a whirlwind on the battlefield. Everything around him was howling chaos; ice, lightning and fire lashed out wildly, uncaring of where or what they hit. There were only enemies in his way now.

Spyro left a trail of destruction in his wake; a path of scorched earth and the rocky remains of the orcs he had killed.

He fired hundreds of ice spikes carelessly, using massive amounts of mana no other dragon would dare to commit to such attacks. Orcs fell, first dozens, then hundreds as Spyro began to adapt to total freedom and discover that he liked it very much.

Spyro lit up the battlefield with a firestorm that was at least twice the size of his first one, damaging hundreds of orcs with the one attack; he followed up with a surge of lightning that finished off the survivors.

With all the orcs in his immediate vicinity dead Spyro's eyes raked over the battlefield for a new target. One of the golems detached itself from the city walls, intent on attacking him. Spyro whipped around to face it with a roar of challenge.

Arrows were aimed at Cynder and she deflected them with her wind instinctively. They were no threat at all. She flew low and fast, cloaking her body in shadows. Untouchable, uncatchable, every single one of Cynder's attacks claimed a life, her claws and every one of her scales were coated with lethal poison and she swiped and cut the orcs as she passed them. None of them were able to see her coming or stop her, and after the shadows passed they were all dead.

Spyro dominated the battlefield like a hurricane, Cynder stalked across it like a plague, both powerful, both lethal, both fascinating forces of nature. Nothing stood in their way now that they had finally been given a chance to show their true power. Malefor watched the two heroes fight, marvelling at their abilities as he hung peacefully in the air high above them.

Cynder stayed at the limits of the chain, circling around Spyro from two hundred metres away. If she got any closer she could risk herself getting caught in the massive attacks that he hurled around so casually. Even from that distance she was still using her wind to protect him from arrows and a small group of flying grublins that he was too distracted to notice and destroy.

Spyro tore his way across the battlefield until he reached the golem and he just kept tearing. The purple dragon created huge jagged spikes of stone and threw them at the golem, making the enormous creature roar in anger. Spyro matched its roar with one of his own and used more earth to throw the golem off balance. It crushed dozens of orcs as it fell, then Spyro leapt up onto it and in one quick movement drove three long lances of ice into its skull.

He kept going, not even glancing back as the golem began to rise again. One orc was lucky enough to get past Spyro's ice and fire, lunging at him with an axe. Spyro activated dragon time for a few seconds, swiping it's head clean off before continuing his charge.

Cynder used wind blades to finish off the golem before it could get back up, she didn't want to deal with it later. She left her shadows behind, flying upwards to hover above Spyro for some relief from the fighting. She may not have been in danger, but she couldn't rest. She kept using her wind to keep Spyro protected; she looked around the battlefield, trying to spot Malefor or Gracious. She saw the winged skeletal creature from before, it barely even seemed to notice the two dragons but was instead standing totally still, watching one of the orcs controlling a siege ballista closely.

Cynder too paid close attention to the siege ballista; several of their huge bolts were fired at her, now that she was high enough in the air for them to target. She deflected them effortlessly, wondering why it was only a few that were aiming at her. She looked around and saw that most of the others were pointed at the city walls or at the watchtowers on the mountain range.

Spyro kept hurling his massive attacks, he came across siege towers, ballista and the battering rams that had been brought at backups and he destroyed them all as he passed. He seemed to have no limit to his strength.

Cynder had never pushed herself this far, she usually preferred to conserve her energy and finish off her enemies as efficiently as possible, but now there seemed to be no end to the enemies and she found herself calling on more mana and strength then she ever knew she had, shrouding everything around her in clouds of poison.

How long had they been fighting like this? One minute? Ten minutes? She didn't know; she'd lost all track of time.

* * *

Malefor folded his wings and fell, the ground and the fighting rushed towards him. He did not spread his wings.

Time stopped, truly stopped. Everything was still and silent and purple.

Malefor's fall became a gentle touchdown, he landed softly on the ground amid his frozen army. His eyes flickered brightly as they focused on Spyro.

Spyro barely seemed to notice that the orcs were all frozen now, he kept cutting them down, stony pieces of orcs flew into the air before time stopped around them once again.

Cynder stopped fighting, she watched the purple dragon warily, Malefor radiated power and seemed to draw attention as if he was magnetic. It felt like Malefor was the centre of the world.

Nothing moved, at any speed. Cynder looked around, seeing that Malefor truly did have a stronger form of dragon time then her or Spyro.

Spyro was still storming, his powers roiling and whipping wildly around him. Malefor waited and watched for a long moment and the entire world seemed to be holding its breath.

Then Malefor accelerated forwards, shooting straight for Spyro.

"Spyro!" Cynder flew towards Spyro as fast as she could, but Malefor had a wind element too, and he got there first.

Malefor flew straight through Spyro's storm of power, and Spyro's elemental attacks were swept away as Malefor stopped just beyond him.

Spyro stood, panting hard, still crackling with magic. Cynder landed at his side just as Malefor calmly turned back to them.

"Spyro, Cynder, I am so proud of you both."

Spyro growled. Cynder saw a flash of yellow in his eyes. She reached out with her wing and touched his shoulder.

"Spyro, calm down."

Spyro looked at her and managed a faint smile.

"Sorry."

Malefor looked pleased at what had just happened. He took a nonthreatening stance; the aura of power that surrounded him seemed to fade slightly.

"You two have grown."

"You seem to have shrunk a bit." Spyro managed to joke. Malefor smiled.

"Perhaps I have, yes. The Dark Master had the ability to change my form, to make me more physically impressive if he chose to."

Cynder looked more closely at Malefor, the purple dragon had changed a great deal since they had last encountered him. He had become a much lighter shade of purple, almost the same colour as Spyro. Spyro was right; Malefor didn't seem quite as big any more. Perhaps that was because they had grown since they last met him, or perhaps he had indeed gotten smaller. She couldn't be sure.

Malefor's voice had changed too; it was no longer guttural and distorted but was much clearer and smooth. His eyes were different as well, pale purple and shining rather than flat and yellow. The purple dragon looked alive, and he looked powerful.

Cynder spoke up, trying to get some explanation.

"The Dark Master wanted to destroy the world, but we've heard that you don't, what do you want now? Gracious told us that you plan to make the world a better place by killing dragons like Magmar and Thoran."

"I told Gracious what he needed to know, that and the truth are not always the same thing. Look around…" Malefor looked around, Spyro and Cynder did the same, not sure what Malefor was getting at. "This siege, the golems, what happened at The Catacombs… It has nothing to do with killing dragons and it has everything to do with _you_."

Spyro blinked. "Me?"

"Both of you. The black dragon and the purple dragon; born together in one generation. You are extraordinary, both of you. Shattershelf doesn't matter to me; I created this entire siege and army for the sake of this meeting, with you."

"That's... not possible."

"Of course it is possible. That's not what you're asking yourself, and it's not the question that you really want to ask me."

Cynder was confused for a moment, then realised what Malefor was saying. She rapidly sorted her thoughts out.

"Why would you do all this because of us?"

Malefor smiled.

"Look at what the three of us can do. See all the things I've created for you to destroy. You are both more powerful then I was at your age, I've tested you to gauge your abilities. Think of how powerful you could be in ten years, in fifty, under my tutelage!"

Cynder and Spyro stared.

"What are you saying? Are you…"

"I'm offering to teach you, both of you, how to control your powers."

"That's why you did all this?" Spyro was incredulous. "To test us? The army, everything? We could have died!"

"If you hadn't been able to survive then I would have decided that you weren't worth making this offer to. Now, what do you think?"

"No."

Malefor didn't seem totally surprised, but he failed to completely hide his disappointment.

"Cynder… I understand your distrust, and I have no intention of forcing you to come with me…" Malefor looked slightly sad. "But believe me when I say that I only want to help you two."

"And when you had me imprisoned from birth and trained as a killing machine, did you only have my welfare at heart _then_?"

Malefor nodded once, using brutal honesty to outmanoeuvre Cynder's sarcasm.

"Yes I did. And I still do."

Cynder opened her mouth to make a sarcastic reply, and then shut it again. Something in Malefor's eyes made her hesitate, and as she hesitated she thought. As bad as her 'training' with the ape king Gaul had been, Cynder's life had been consistently getting better since then. She was powerful, she was free, and she had friends, Imperia, Miasma. She had Spyro too, and she'd suffer the pain of her childhood again in a heartbeat for him.

Cynder realised she had no sharp answer. Malefor looked at her, and she sensed that he knew exactly what she was thinking.

"No. I don't want…" Cynder shook her head, annoyed at herself for failing to speak. "I don't want to be your apprentice."

Spyro nodded. "I agree with her. We decline your offer, Malefor."

Malefor nodded. "Cynder, I'll leave my offer open to you. In case you change your mind." He looked as if he wanted to say more, but he didn't. He turned to Spyro instead, and his eyes glowed. "But Spyro, I'm afraid that you are not allowed to decline. You're coming with me."

* * *

Spyro was too surprised to respond for a moment. Cynder stepped in front of him.

"No."

Malefor sighed.

"You won't win."

"Try me. I won't let you take him."

"You won't have a choice."

Malefor flicked his paw, wind rushed around them, and it brought with it the cold. The temperature began to fall immediately. Malefor watched Cynder, waiting patiently for a sign of weakness as it grew colder.

Cynder kept meeting his gaze, knowing that she would need to attack him soon, before she was too weak to pose a threat. He was right, there was no way she could win against him. Malefor looked apologetic, suddenly his eyes flickered with surprise, and then he was consumed by a huge fireball.

A few lingering flames kissed Cynder's scales, Spyro stepped up next to her and she began to feel warm again. Spyro gave her a smile, she returned it.

Malefor touched down lightly about a hundred metres away, he looked at them silently.

"How do we beat him?" Spyro hissed quietly to Cynder.

"I don't know. If I can cut him then I can poison him; that might work."

Spyro nodded seriously. "I'll cover you."

Cynder swept forwards towards the purple dragon. He was more dangerous than any opponent she had ever faced, practically godlike. Cynder tried not to think about whether she actually stood a chance against him, she just had to hope. Malefor casually evaded her first attack, but was forced to dodge back towards her as a fireball streaked past his head.

Cynder's tail blade gleamed, streaked with poison, as she buried it in Malefor's side.

Cynder got something of a shock.

The Malefor she had struck was made entirely of light and electricity, it lanced up her tail, stunning her.

The real Malefor emerged from the ground right behind Spyro, reaching out for his head.

Spyro whipped around, instantly throwing a hard punch at Malefor's jaw. But have he wasn't quite quick enough, Malefor put his paw on Spyro's forehead and the younger purple dragon gasped as he felt energy flow through him. His punch still landed, but it had no power behind it and Malefor let it glance off his scales.

"So it's true that you haven't unlocked your wind element…"

Cynder struggled to get up; electricity was still running through her. She was suddenly terrified, seeing Spyro standing there quietly with Malefor's paw rested on his scales.

"Spyro!"

Spyro twitched slightly, Malefor didn't seem to care. He smiled.

"We both have one, allow me to help you awaken it." Energy flowed from Malefor to Spyro. Spyro's eyes snapped open as he felt power surge within him. This was just like what the Chronicler had done to restore Spyro's elements after his battle with Cynder.

Malefor seemed to be speaking for himself as much as for Spyro. He stepped back as the younger purple dragon rose into the air.

"Wind is the element of freedom. Feel it flow around and through you as it flows past all obstacles. Sense it, and control it. The wind is peaceful, fast, patient… but always ready to ROAR!"

Spyro slammed his paws down onto the ground, and wind howled around him. Malefor looked on, satisfied.

Spyro looked back up at Malefor, too amazed to attack. He spread his wings and wind whispered softly around him.

"So… wind _is_ the fifth guardian element!"

"Yes it is. And there is now a fifth Guardian dragon, and the first wind guardian in history." Malefor smiled. "I know many things, I can teach you a great deal. Both of you."

Malefor looked over at Cynder.

"An advanced lightning technique. In effect it is an illusion created from electricity. Both Volteer and Thoran are capable of this too, but I have spent time perfecting the copy to be indistinguishable and leave no traces."

Cynder growled, managing to stagger to her feet.

"The copy has no mass; you can easily recognise it by using your wind to sense around you. It is simple to detect, but I knew you would not be looking for it, and would therefore be caught."

Cynder got ready to attack again. "Why tell me how to counter your ability?"

"Because I felt you deserved to know. I am not your enemy." Malefor frowned to himself before refocusing on Spyro and Cynder. "I have three minutes of Dragon Time left, have you reconsidered?"

Spyro glanced across at Cynder, and then he shook his head. "No. I'm not going with you."

Three minutes, they could hold off Malefor for that long. Cynder got ready to attack again. After three minutes… she wasn't sure what would happen then, but it would be an improvement to fighting in this still, silent, purple world.

Spyro spread his wings and the wind rushed around him, he raced towards Malefor. He didn't have very much control, but he had speed.

Malefor ran one of his paws across the ground. A wall of rock rose up before Spyro and he crashed into it. Malefor spread his own wings and floated towards him.

Cynder came down on him from above, her claws gleaming with poison. Malefor launched a fireball which went straight through her as she concealed herself in shadow. Cynder was almost upon Malefor when he flashed with blinding light and an explosive thunderclap sound.

Cynder was momentarily blinded, she cursed her carelessness, Volteer had demonstrated this technique ages ago, and she hadn't been expecting it at all. Wind swept around her and Cynder was hurled across the battlefield, knocking down dozens of orcs as she rolled to a stop.

Spyro lunged at Malefor; he was almost as surprised as Malefor was when he managed to hit him. Blood trickled from a cut above Malefor's eye. Spyro went for another attack, but purple energy threw him back and formed a shield around Malefor. A spark of brighter energy flickered over Malefor's eye and his wound healed itself immediately.

Spyro went to attack again, but Malefor spat a fireball at him and Spyro was engulfed in flames.

Malefor swept forwards into the fire, his shield disappearing. He gripped Spyro's horn and struck him casually on the head, stunning him.

"There is no need for that chain anymore." The snake charms disappeared from around Spyro and Cynder's throats. "It has served its purpose. And so have you, Cynder. You have my thanks, and my offer is still open to you."

Cynder furiously blinked her eyes back into focus; the charm connecting her to Spyro glowed brightly as it faded from her neck. She started to run, the wind swirling around her.

"No!"

Two minutes, she just had to keep Malefor busy for two more minutes. She wasn't _running fast enough_! Malefor was just watching her, standing above Spyro's groaning form. Cynder forced herself to run faster.

"I should teach you something about dragon time too."

"Stop it!"

Malefor looked at her with sympathy.

"Your powers naturally activate when another dragon uses dragon time, I let both of you join me, using my powers to keep you two here. I can stop doing that at any time."

Cynder was so close. Malefor watched her without any fear, but with a gentle look of sadness. Cynder spat poison; it stopped in the air before him.

"I'll see you again soon, Cynder."

"No! No, please no!"

Cynder forgot about Malefor and lunged for Spyro.

The two purple dragons vanished in a flash of light.

* * *

He was gone. Malefor had taken him.

Spyro was gone.

"No…"

She hadn't been strong enough. Neither of them had. She felt hollow inside. It felt like the world had been playing a cruel joke on her, making her think she'd been so untouchable, so powerful.

But she hadn't been strong enough.

Cynder rose slowly into the air. An army seethed around her. She looked at them with burning, hateful eyes.

Red energy filled her body, raging around her. Arrows fired at her were thrown down like they were sticks. Cynder was furious.

The energy surged. Cynder held it back until it was painful; it would kill her if she didn't release it soon.

Cynder dove, smashing her paws into the ground and giving a drawn out scream.

Her red energy exploded from her, a shockwave which rushed out and consumed everything around her.

All the orcs within twenty metres of her died instantly. The wave kept rushing outward, no longer with a force, but like a swift, whispering wind. It flowed through the entire valley, rippling off the walls of Shattershelf. Everything was still. Cynder landed gracefully but her wings were hanging on the ground and her head was bowed.

For a long moment the black dragoness stood, swaying. Then she collapsed to the ground with a gentle thud.

That soft sound broke the spell, and in a moment the army became a riot.

Orcs fought each other, cowered on the ground or turned their own weapons on themselves as pure fear surged through them. The sounds of fighting were deafening as around Cynder's still form an entire army began to tear itself apart.

All order was forgotten, all direction was abandoned; the fighting was random and desperate. The orcs died in droves as Cynder's terrible power hung like a thick mist over them. Within minutes the army was in ruins, unsalvageable. And all through this Cynder lay still, and nothing dared to approach her.

* * *

Imperia and Terrador watched from above, sitting atop the watchtower.

"I saw Malefor. He was there, but then he disappeared and so did Spyro. Cynder changed places, they must have fought while under the effects of dragon time." Imperia looked across at Terrador urgently. "We have to go and help her!"

"No. Imperia look, no orc dares go near her. She'll be safe until we can reach her. We'll assume that Malefor is gone, and continue with the attack we planned, Cynder is now our number one priority, but I will not endanger the lives of others to get to her."

Imperia nodded.

"You're right… I'm sorry."

"You do not need to apologise, I know how much she means to you. You can help her; the next stage of the attack requires your skills."

"My skills?"

"We need a storm for cover, a large one, as soon as possible. I believe that you and Volteer have been working on combination attacks?"

Imperia began to smile, rolling to her feet; she bumped Terrador with her tail. "You could have told me that earlier. I could be done by now. Seriously, summoning storms is not easy."

Terrador smiled slightly. "I'm telling you now; I hadn't expected the situation to be so urgent. Are you going to get started?"

"The mountains make large scale cloud manipulation tricky, I doubt we'd get many storms with electrical potential here… You know anyone else could need as much as half an hour to summon anything at all." Imperia posed slightly. "It's lucky that I came along; it'll take me about five minutes. I'll get Volteer now."

Imperia leapt off the tower and gained height, the wind rushed around her as she whirled a lazy circle. She spotted Volteer and fell down, laughing softly. It was only seconds after she'd taken off that she landed lightly on Volteer's back, making him jump.

Volteer whipped around in surprise, then realised who it was and smiled.

"Hi there, handsome."

Imperia kissed him, she made it quick, they were short of time, but she closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment while she could. She tapped her paws on Volteer's back, and then leapt down to land next to him, adding an additional spin for the sake of showing off.

"Imperia! You startled me."

"I'm sorry. You were looking lonely." She laughed again, rubbing herself along his side like a cat. Volteer struggled to take his eyes off her.

"We're being stared at. And I could have attacked you with lightning by accident."

"Now you're staring at me, stares aren't always bad. And as you know…" Imperia winked. "Lightning makes my scales quiver."

"Ehm… ah, Imperia…" Volteer looked terribly embarrassed.

"No, I'll focus; this is a bad time to play around. Terrador asked us to create a storm; he wants us to have total control of the sky before we attack. You can take down the siege ballista from a safe range."

Volteer nodded, still blushing.

"It appears that Malefor's extraordinary temporal manipulation ability has altered the situation on the battlefield unexpectedly. Cynder is on the valley floor now, alone."

"I know; and I want to get to her. I need to get started on this storm; Terrador isn't going to want anyone down there until we're ready. I want to be done in five minutes."

"We had better get ready then."

* * *

Gracious was stunned. He sat silently on the walls of Warfang, the huge shadow of the last golem cast him in darkness. It had been a matter of pure luck that he had been above the range of the red energy attack, even from such a distance he had been caught off guard by its power.

Cynder was out of the fight now, clearly her attack had taken a lot out of her. Gracious had not expected anything like that from the black dragoness. Malefor hadn't warned him, but he must surely have known. Malefor had to have known she was so powerful.

And now the Warfang dragons were preparing to move down, and his army was in ruins. The orcs could not stand up against the dragons any more. Everything had failed him.

The General stood beside Gracious, tall, skeletal and silent. It too had been out of range of Cynder's attack. Gracious looked out over the battlefield, his mind could barely process what was happening. The General spoke to him in its rasping voice.

"The attack has failed. Malefor advises you to flee; there is no further purpose to saying here."

"Why did he go?" Gracious looked furious. "He must have… I don't understand." He looked at the General. "What is happening here?"

The creature was silent for a long moment, deciding what to say.

"Malefor was not concerned with the result of this siege. He was here for Spyro only. The power of a second purple dragon is of greater importance than Shattershelf."

"Impossible."

"As you wish. Malefor extends his sympathies. He says that if you can forgive him then he will continue to aid you. But he understands that you will be displeased."

"Displeased?" Gracious looked at the General with venom. The skeletal figure considered him without emotion.

"I request that you do not attack me."

Gracious sighed. There was no point, and he was not certain that he could kill the unsettling creature even if he tried. The Warfang dragons would be here soon and a retreat was necessary.

"I'm not going to attack you. I'll go to the ice dragon city abandoned in the mountains near here."

"Howling peak."

"Yes, that's the name. Malefor can find me there, and if he wants any chance at forgiveness then he had better come personally."

"I shall inform him."

The ice dragon turned, launching himself off the city walls and flying away. The General looked down at the remaining orcs; even now they were still barely functioning due to the effects of Cynder's attack. Now the General had no further reason to be at Shattershelf, so it too left the city behind.

* * *

Magmar's red eyes were fixed on Cynder's still form. He had left his throne to watch the battle from the windows. Flare stood beside him.

A fire dragon ran into the room.

"There are dragons on the mountainside, the entire orc army is in chaos after some sort of wide area attack!"

"It's Warfang." Magmar said. He turned and paced the room, and then his eyes glowed as he hit upon an idea. "How many are there?"

"Approximately two hundred. We have positive identification of the Earth Guardian dragon Terrador."

"The other two have to be here as well. The guardians have rules about when they can split up; the other two will be there." His eyes glowed even brighter. He looked around at the messenger dragon, who stepped back nervously.

"Yes, lord?"

"Get me Cynder. Send out an attack team, right now. Retrieve her and bring her to the main meeting chamber immediately!"

"At once!" The fire dragon fled the room.

Magmar turned to Flare. She looked at him quietly. Magmar casually hurled a fireball at her.

The fire turned into a bird as it flew, and the bird flapped its way to Flare and perched on her wing.

"Bird…" Flare stared at him.

Magmar growled, launching another fireball. This one too became a bird and perched on Flare's back.

"Are you attacking me?"

"I am, and I intend to kill you."

"That would be an act of war. We are so close to peace between our cities, you agreed to the treaty after Spyro defeated you in combat."

"And Spyro isn't here anymore."

"This war shouldn't start again, we were getting nowhere! It's pointless."

"But now Warfang's army is here, in our territory. And they will be crushed."

"No! They came to help! You… I beg you not to do this."

Magmar lunged forwards. Flare's two birds flew at him and dived at his head. Magmar swatted them away and lashed his tail at Flare. The fire dragoness bowed deeply and his tail swept over her head. Immediately Magmar struck again, but Flare politely stepped aside to let him pass, evading again. Fire flickered over her scales.

"Your dancing is most impressive."

Flare nodded, then sat down sharply, barely getting her head out of range of a swiping claw. Magmar surprised her with a lunge, catching her by the throat and slamming her against the wall.

"I'll kill you."

Flare flicked fire into his eyes, making him snarl in pain. She whipped her claws up, going for his eyes. Magmar howled in anger and hurled her across the room.

Flare landed and was on her feet again immediately.

"GUARDS!" Magmar roared. Seven armoured fire dragons hurried into the throne room, unsure what they had been called for. They took position between Flare and Magmar.

"You, get the Warfang dragons. All of them! To the main meeting chamber, right now. Make sure Cynder is taken there as well."

"It will be done." One of the guards left the room.

"Why are you doing this?" Flare looked at Magmar, trying to hold his gaze. He looked back at her with burning eyes that had no mercy.

"The Warfang dragons will attack Shattershelf, and we will destroy them. They have no hope of taking the city, but they will try anyway. All four of the Guardians will die, Warfang will be crippled!"

"Stop this, I beg you."

"Kill Flare, I don't care how you do it, you have half an hour. Make sure she's still recognisable when you're done with her. Take her remains to the high tower; we're going to throw her down to the Warfang dragons below, and hers won't be the only corpse we give them."

The six guard dragons advanced on Flare, the fire dragoness backed away warily.

The messenger who had first brought news of the new dragon army came back, panting after rushing around.

"We have Raze, Flame, Ember, Feyer and Spark gathered in the main meeting chamber! The other Warfang dragons are fighting at the main gates."

"Leave them; I'll deal with them later. Do you have the black dragoness? Do you have Cynder?"

"Yes my lord, she's been retrieved. She is still unconscious and she's being taken there now."

Magmar's eyes burned as he started to walk from the room.

"Good. Keep them there until I arrive. I want to kill her personally."

* * *

 **Please review.**

 **-4Dragons**


	26. Honour and Death

**The theme for this chapter is Ready, Aim, Fire, by Imagine Dragons.**

 **I'd also really reccomend going back to Magmar's and Ember's songs.  
Judgement Day Theme: Terminator two -for Mamgar  
For Those Who Wait, by Fireflight -for Ember**

* * *

Cynder felt sore all over. She realised dimly that she was being carried and struggled to raise her head. A fire dragon had lifted her on his back and was taking her somewhere. She was confused, and there was only one thing her mind wanted to focus on.

"Spyro…"

He was gone, Malefor had taken him.

She had to get him back.

Cynder tried to get up, but she was weakened after her fear attack. Her entire body was heavy and sore. All she remembered was anger and more magic then she had even known she possessed.

"What… happened?"

The fire dragon kept moving, but he looked back at her.

"You've used up a great deal of mana, you're seriously weakened. That attack you used was extraordinary, all of the orcs are fighting each other now, the whole army is destroying itself."

"The… siege… Where are you taking me?"

"The orcs are finished. Magmar had you retrieved from the battlefield. I'm taking you to the main meeting chamber now."

"What… what about Spyro?"

"The purple dragons have both disappeared. We haven't seen either of them."

"I have to find him…"

The fire dragon carried Cynder into the meeting chamber. She looked around at the familiar faces. Raze looked concerned for her and so did Flame. She struggled off the fire dragon's back and tried to get up, but fell. Suddenly Spark was beside her, he helped her get to her feet. He was small, but quite strong for his size.

Feyer and Ember were also in the room; Cynder looked around at all of them, feeling numb.

"He's… gone…"

"The Warfang dragons are here!" Spark looked excited. "I wanted to watch them, Imperia has got to be the one summoning the storm, she promised to show us that in one of her lessons."

The doors opened and Magmar walked into the room. The other fire dragon who had brought Cynder to the chamber hurried out, closing the door behind him.

"No doubt you're wondering why I called you here."

"Spyro's gone!" Cynder leant on Spark as she staggered to her feet. They were wasting time here.

Ember looked over in surprise, for a moment she looked stunned, then she hurried forwards, forgetting her fear of Cynder.

"Gone? What do you mean? How can he be gone? Cynder, what happened?"

"Malefor took him!"

Magmar's eyes glowed red. "I know. Now the Warfang dragons are here, an-"

"We… we need to search!" Cynder looked around; Ember was the only other one who seemed to get it. Malefor had Spyro, the dragon she loved was in danger, and they had to help him. "I have to talk to Volteer, he would have ideas about where Malefor would go. We need to get a message to him."

"He's already here." Magmar was looking annoyed as Cynder kept on ignoring him. "He came with the Warfang army."

"Right. I need… I need to talk to him…"

Spark nodded. "We have to get Spyro back again."

Ember looked around. "I can go right now and find Volteer."

"No." Magmar stalked around the room. "You aren't leaving, none of you. Cynder, don't ignore me."

Cynder turned away and began to slowly make her way to the door, leaning on Spark for support.

There was a soft growl from behind her, but she didn't turn.

Feyer spoke, he sounded nervous.

"What the heck is going on? Lord Magmar, wha-"

His voice was cut off suddenly.

"Feyer! Stop, what are you doing?" Raze shouted.

There was a sickening, wet crack.

Cynder turned, and a terrible feeling of hopelessness spread through her.

Magmar's glowing eyes were locked on Cynder, Feyer's body hung limp in his paws.

Magmar twisted his paws again; there was a second horrible crack, almost like a rotten branch being snapped. Feyer gurgled, a mixture of shock, confusion and fear in his eyes.

Magmar dropped him carelessly; the large orange dragon's head was resting on an unnatural angle.

"Is everyone paying attention now?"

There was only stunned silence.

Feyer hadn't made a very good impression on Cynder; he was arrogant but not very competent. He had lost to Cynder in the colosseum, and while he hadn't ever crossed the line to being a genuine bully he had certainly behaved like a jerk. And now he was wounded, probably dead, and nobody was able to react.

Magmar stalked forward, and then lunged with terrifying speed, Ember screamed. Magmar smacked Spark aside and the little red dragon hit a pillar with a heavy thud. Magmar's paw fastened around Cynder's throat and he slammed her against the stone wall, his burning red eyes locked on her pale green ones.

"I've been looking forward to this. Very much." His grip was too tight; he was choking the life out of her.

Cynder struggled and thrashed, but she was weakened from the battle and she had no hope of escape. Her vision was already getting blurry and the pain in her neck was growing sharper with each second.

She tried to control the wind, it brushed gently at her, but when she swept blades of it at Magmar they folded around him. She'd used up too much mana; her elemental attacks weren't going to save her.

"You die now. And the deaths of my people and my mate will be avenged. Your friends and the guardians will die next. Malefor come later, and Spyro soon after him. Then, finally, I can have peace."

Cynder swatted at Magmar's paw, but she already knew that she'd lost. Her strength was gone and her vision was fading.

Magmar watched her with triumphant eyes, he was so focused on her that he didn't see the fireball until it exploded on his left eye.

Magmar howled in pain, he hadn't closed his eye and the hit had been direct and painful. His grip on Cynder loosened. There was a sound of an impact, Magmar was driven back, and suddenly Cynder was falling.

She hit the ground with a thud, gasping in air.

" _Nobody_ hurts Cynder."

Cynder looked up. Standing above her, facing down the monster, was Ember.

* * *

Ember was risking her life for Cynder. Ember, the pink dragoness who Cynder had been fighting against for as long as they had known each other, was trying to save her. Cynder was totally shocked.

Ember glanced back at her for a moment, but had to keep watching Magmar in case he charged at her.

"Flame! Get Cynder away from here!"

Cynder managed to choke out a few words.

"No, Ember… what are you doing? He'll… he's too strong."

"She's right, little girl. You have no chance against me."

"I don't care. I'm still not letting you hurt Cynder."

Cynder had to stop her. Ember's confidence and determination had always been extraordinary, but they were going to get her killed.

"Ember… no…"

Paws grabbed her and she was dragged away from Ember and Magmar. She tried to crawl back towards the pink dragoness but Flame was stronger.

Magmar growled and lashed his tail at Ember, but the pink dragoness leapt back and aimed three fireballs at him. Magmar was forced back slightly by each impact, but he darted forwards and hit Ember, knocking her off her feet.

"I'm not playing around, Ember. I will kill you." He frowned and stopped his attack, looking down at Feyer. "He's still alive, how pathetic. I should have done a better job." He raised his paw, and then he was seized from behind.

Magmar coiled around, snarling savagely. Raze waited a moment for the best chance to attack his face. Magmar jerked aside with astonishing speed, evading the blow before smashing Raze with a head-butt and sending him staggering back.

"You're outnumbered." Raze shook his head to clear it before taking a fighting stance.

"Not for long." Magmar advanced towards him.

A fireball exploded on his side, he turned with a roar, and another one caught his face dead on.

"You!" He went straight for Ember but Raze was onto him immediately.

The two fire dragons fought for a few savage seconds. Cynder staggered to her feet, with one glare she convinced Flame to let her go, she began to struggle towards them.

Raze had never stood a chance, Magmar had control of the fight in an instant. Magmar latched onto him with a hiss of anger. A fireball exploded on his wings but Magmar ignored it. Raze's eyes met Cynder right as Magmar clamped his jaws on the Warfang dragon's head. Raze had time for one brief look of panic, then Magmar bit down on him with a crunch. He hadn't even gotten a chance to use magic.

"No…"

Cynder had never really thought about Raze much, it was mostly due to luck that she even remembered his name. But he had apologised to her for how he'd treated her in the past, and she remembered that.

His body fell limp to the ground as Magmar dropped him.

Cynder stumbled forwards as Magmar spat out blood and flesh. She tried to prowl, but she had no grace. Her magic was practically useless, she had nothing.

"Why… why are you doing this?"

Magmar looked around at her, and for a moment she caught a flash of pain in his eyes.

"All I've ever wanted is to be left alone, no enemies, no threats, no deals, no truces. But I never got that chance."

Magmar stalked towards her, the brief emotion she had seen was hidden by anger and triumph.

"But you started this."

"I didn't, but I am going to finish it! The world doesn't leave _me_ alone, it never has."

"Finish it? Kill Spyro, kill Malefor? You don't stand a chance against him."

"I didn't stand a chance against _you_ either. We both know it, don't we? But _now_ you've fallen. You're so weak you can barely stand. You think that you're gods, but you bleed like anyone else. It's just a matter of catching you when you're weakened."

Magmar exploded forwards, fire all around him. Cynder didn't even get to flinch before his paw smashed into her head, she fell to the floor.

Cynder's tail whipped up, but didn't cut his scales. Magmar grabbed her and smashed her head into the ground for that, not giving her a single moment to recover he stomped on her breast, Cynder screamed as her ribs strained.

Her tail whipped up again and Magmar roared as she caught him just above the eye. A trickle of blood ran like a tear down his muzzle.

"This is how you die, and after you this will be how Malefor dies. Weak, afraid, alone."

"She's not alone!"

Magmar was knocked off his feet as Ember struck him in the side with a comet dash. She started to hit him in the head again and again, shouting as she did.

"I! Won't! Let! You! Hurt! Cynder!"

Cynder tried to scream a warning, but was only able to manage a croak. As Ember struck Magmar surged upwards and hit her back.

"I'm sick of this!"

"And I'm sick of _you_!" A new voice cut through the fight. Magmar turned in fury, and then he almost started laughing. The dragon who had distracted him from Ember was none other than Spark.

"And I won't let you hurt Ember or Cynder!"

"Spark no!" Ember and Cynder screamed at exactly the same time. Spark looked at them with a raised eyebrow, and then he charged.

Somehow, incredibly, Spark rolled under Magmar's fire attack and hit him with a comet dash straight in the belly. Magmar tried to grab him, but Spark outmanoeuvred him. Ember spat fireballs. Between them the pink dragoness and the small red dragon were somehow holding their own against the raging monster.

Magmar grunted as Spark repeated his comet dash attack to the same part of Magmar's underbody, but he had been waiting for a chance, he grabbed Spark and threw him at a pillar.

"You two are strong for your respective ages. In a century you two could be remarkable dragons!"

Spark managed to get to his feet, looking up at Magmar with a savage grin. "I learned from the best teachers in Warfang."

"That's a shame for them."

Magmar's body coiled around.

His tail came down.

Spark died.

* * *

The little dragon never stood a chance; he was completely destroyed by the crushing blow. He didn't even have time to scream.

Magmar growled, shaking blood off his tail

Ember screamed, tears running freely down her face.

Cynder felt her eyes fill with tears of her own. She couldn't bear to look at what remained where Spark had stood, it was too horrible.

Ember looked at Magmar. "He was like my brother!"

"You can all die together."

Magmar moved faster than he ever had before, finally revealing his true speed. Cynder was weakened and knew instantly that she wouldn't be able to react in time, but Ember did. She drove her shoulder against Magmar, knocking him off balance, and then Magmar's claws dug into Ember's neck and he tore a massive piece out of her throat.

Bright red blood flew, Cynder stared at it. Ember stared at it too, then her eyes found Cynder's and she tried to speak.

More blood ran in streams over her pink scales, Ember seemed to realise that she had no hope of speaking, so she instead gave Cynder a slight, painful, smile.

Ember fell in a slowly growing pool of her own blood. She was choking, dying.

Magmar dismissed the pink dragoness from his mind, stepping over her as he moved towards Cynder.

Flame was the only one left with her. The fire dragon stepped in front of her protectively, but she gently brushed him aside.

Cynder looked at Magmar silently, with a hate that was as cold as ice, and as she looked his legs gave out under him and he too fell.

"What is happening to me?" Magmar grimaced in pain, trying to get back to his feet.

"Poison. When I cut your eye I poisoned you." Cynder spoke quietly. "Vengeance doesn't make you feel better, Ember taught me that. But you can consider this vengeance anyway…"

"Impossible!" Magmar made a massive effort and managed to rise again, he stood for a long moment, and took one more step towards Cynder before falling again. "No. This isn't right… It can't be…"

"It's fatal, you have no chance of survival."

"No. This isn't how I was meant to die. It's… it's not my destiny."

"I don't care about destiny!"

"There is no honour in this death!"

"And there is no honour in _you_! Just die! Stop talking and die, die, die!"

Cynder screamed at him, desperate and panicked. The poison was fatal, but Magmar was still coming. The fire dragon was slowly making his way towards her, jaws clenched in pain.

He wasn't dying, why wasn't he dying? Cynder found herself backing away as he crawled slowly towards her as if he'd never stop.

She edged away from him, Magmar's burning eyes followed her, but he couldn't turn. Cynder stepped back, away from the terrifying form of the fire king. His breathing was ragged, slowing, weakening.

Cynder was crying now, and she couldn't stop herself. What was left for her?

Magmar breathed in, but did not breathe out again. His eyes glowed brightly, and then he gave a kind of sigh. Then there was only silence.

Ember coughed.

Somehow she still wasn't dead. Her wound was surely lethal, but she was hanging on to life anyway.

Cynder forgot everything else and ran over to the pink dragoness.

"She's… she's still alive!" Cynder looked around frantically. "There must be healers! I… I need to get her to someone!" Cynder wrapped her wing around Ember's throat, trying to hold the blood inside of her. Ember's eyes flickered slightly, her heartbeat was very weak. "No Ember! You can't die! You have to hang on! Please!" Her tears dripped on Ember's pink snout.

Suddenly Cynder remembered Magmar saying that Feyer hadn't been dead either, she looked around at Flame.

"Help Feyer! He… he may not be dead! We have to help them!"

The red dragon looked sick and his eyes were dull, he was clearly in shock over what had happened, but when he heard Cynder's words his eyes refocused and he stirred.

"The healers are on the north corridors!" Flame hurried to Feyer. "His heart is still beating." He looked around, almost whimpering his next words. "But we can't leave the others here."

"We have to; we can't think about that, we need to get help for Feyer and Ember!" Cynder used all of her strength to drag Ember to the door. She pawed at it weakly, Flame opened it for her and the two of them started to struggle down the corridor.

Asha rounded the corner and her eyes widened in shock.

"What happened?" She ran towards them. Cynder managed to snarl at her, but she knew that if Asha tried to finish what Magmar had started then she wouldn't be able to stop the fire dragoness.

"Your brother… betrayed Warfang… tried to kill us."

Asha was rendered totally motionless by this revelation, but it was not in shock. Cynder knew instinctively that Asha had feared this would happen. Her eyes glowed like her brother's had as she looked over them, her attention fixed in particular on Ember.

"I take it that my brother is dead, then."

"Yes." Cynder tried to speak threateningly, but she couldn't make the words seem like they meant anything. Ember was dying, and Cynder could do nothing to save her.

Asha swore softly. "We have no time."

"They are dying!" Flame yelled angrily.

Asha shouted down the corridor and several fire dragons came towards them.

"Get these four to the hospital rooms! Right now! I have to go and make this right if I still can; the Warfang dragons need to be told what's happened here!"

Cynder was taken away, and everything was making her feel dizzy and she wanted to faint. She was dragged off Ember, she tried to fight but she wasn't strong enough. She watched as Ember's eyes slowly went dull and her horrible, terrible wound began to bleed more and more.

Two fire dragons carried Ember, speaking urgently to each other.

"This needs to be cauterised."

"She'll die if we do that. She can't survive a wound like this!"

"She'll bleed to death if we don't! This is all we can do."

A red dragon conjured blades of fire on his claws and began to burn Ember's wound.

Cynder was babbling to herself and to Ember, begging the pink dragoness to hold on and crying as if she could never stop. Everything was going wrong; she just wanted it all to stop so that she could try to sort out this mess that her life had become.

* * *

Cynder found herself lying on a bed, she didn't know what had happened, if she had fainted or not. A fire dragoness was watching her. She struggled to get up.

"I have to get to Spyro. Malefor has him. I need to see Volteer."

"Lady Cynder, you're suffering post-traumatic shock. Please lie down."

Cynder shook her head, there was something important. Something awful had happened. Her thoughts were all fuzzy. She looked around, there was a small vase of flowers at the end of her bed. Seeing the flowers cut though Cynder's daze as she realised what it was that had happened.

"Magmar! He… he tried to kill me. She saved my life, I have to…"

"You should rest lady Cynder. Everything else can wait."

"Where are they? Where is Raze? Spark? Ember, where is Ember?"

"The Warfang dragons are at the gates, Lady Asha is trying to ensure that there will be no violence. The dragons from the school are searching Shattershelf for the guardian dragoness, Flare, right now. Magmar, king of Shattershelf, has been confirmed dead, slain by poison; Lady Asha has taken temporary control of the city and its defences."

"Don't! Don't change the subject!" Cynder tried to get up again. "What happened to the others?"

"Please sit down."

"Tell me!"

"Very well. We identified the corpse of the Warfang dragon Raze, and as far as we know the other dead dragon is Spark. The orange dragon, Feyer, died a few minutes ago, his neck had been broken in multiple places and he was beyond our help."

"And… Ember?"

"I'm sorry Cynder… She's hanging on to life for now, but I fear that she will not recover."

* * *

 **Don't hate me. I'm just the messenger.**

 **-4Dragons**


	27. And the World Falls Apart

**This is a sad chapter. Sad songs are subjective, and I leave the choice to you as to what song you play while reading.  
I will, however, make a recommendation. Waiting Between Worlds (instrumental), by Zack Hemsey. I'll include a note suggesting when to start it.**

* * *

The gates to Shattershelf, or what remained of them, were wide open. A lone fire dragoness walked through them towards the army of Warfang.

Asha watched as a familiar large, green, earth dragon came out to meet her. Terrador reminded her of her brother, Magmar, a great deal. Both of them were good leaders with a military disposition and extraordinary physical and mental strength. She shook her head to clear thoughts of the fire king away; she had to deal with this in a detached and logical manner.

The battlefield was a ruin, above it a dark storm growled sullenly. Lightning threatened overhead, the electric dragon Volteer was still up there somewhere. Asha had seen what he could do, and she had no desire to experience it firsthand.

The ground was blackened and torn by the elemental attacks that had been used on it. The remains of orcs, the siege weapons and the Shattershelf dividing walls were scattered randomly around the battlefield. The lashing downpour the Warfang dragons had summoned had eased off to a light rain and the ground was wet.

Asha held back a shiver as she walked further out into the bleak landscape. Scraps of red mist left over from the fear attack used by the black dragoness were still hanging around even now. The wisps were not dangerous, but they were still unsettling.

Terrador bowed to Asha as she approached.

"We've come to aid you in defence of your city, it's unfortunate that we couldn't inform you that we were coming, but I can swear that we have no ill will towards you and pose no threat."

"I thank you for coming. I would like to exchange pleasantries, Terrador, but I have to explain our position to you. It's complicated at the moment, and this is far from a good situation."

Terrador nodded.

"Very well. Please explain."

"I am acting commander of Shattershelf following the death of my brother. Shattershelf has no quarrel with Warfang, but before his death the fire king attempted to break our truce."

"Attempted?" Terrador caught the word and looked at Asha, waiting for her to explain what she meant.

"As ruler of Shattershelf and the fire dragons as a whole I am willing to surrender to Warfang once again with fair terms. But I must inform you that before his... timely… death, reportedly at the hands of the dragoness Cynder, Magmar personally murdered at least two of the dragons who came here under the peace treaty."

Terrador made no visible reaction, but after a moment he bowed his head. Asha had no way of telling for certain what Terrador was thinking, but she instinctively sensed that this news pained him a great deal.

"That's unfortunate. I am willing to trust your word that Magmar is now dead and that the ill will between our cities died with him, I do not want a war any more then you do."

Terrador was struggling to resist his urge to charge straight into the city and find out for himself what had happened; Asha saw it in his eyes.

"For the time being I have given orders that all Warfang dragons are to be allowed into the city and to go where they will, without guards. Under no circumstance is any Warfang dragon to be harmed."

"That… is a very unusual command." Terrador was surprised.

Depending on how literally the fire dragons would take Asha's orders she could quite possibly have just handed control of the entire city over to them with a few words. If the Warfang dragons chose to walk into Shattershelf in force then the guards would have been specifically ordered not to stop them.

Terrador was a wise leader, and he would never willingly have done what Asha had.

"I had no time to make any orders more suitable, and I could not risk any incidents that might cause this situation to get beyond our control. I hope that we can make this right, and I shall start by apologising for your losses."

"The fire guardian Flare, my colleague, would be a great help in dealing with this problem. Unless… unless she was one of the dragons who has died."

"She has not been confirmed dead, but we also don't know where she is. Again I'm sorry that the situation has ended up like this. I don't know if you'll know the dead dragons personally, but I can tell you that Cynder is still alive."

Terrador nodded, looking grave. He glanced back at the Warfang dragons and a slender, silvery dragoness came forward.

"Lady Asha, this is Imperia, the first wind guardian of Warfang."

"We've met." Asha bowed to her. "Shall I explain what has happened?"

"There is no need, I heard you." Imperia offered her a wary smile; she too hid her concern well, but Asha could still read it in her pose and eyes. "Terrador and I have reached an agreement. I'm to come with you to Shattershelf alone for now; no other Warfang dragons will enter your city unless it's necessary."

Asha looked over at Terrador, the earth dragon sighed.

"I can't stop her from going, she'll go into the city no matter what I say, and so I felt it might be wiser to officially sanction her choice. She'll want to see Cynder, and I'd also like a Warfang dragon to confirm that Magmar is dead personally."

"Very well." Asha nodded.

"However she won't enter the city alone. I will come as well, if that is acceptable to you."

Asha nodded again. "Thank you for your understanding of our situation."

The three dragons started to walk back to Shattershelf. Imperia lightly skipped onto and then over Terrador's back to walk beside Asha.

"Is Cynder alright? The attack she used must have taken a lot of her energy."

"As far as I could tell she was healthy, but she had minor injuries and was suffering emotional stress."

"Imperia please, this is a bad time, I asked you to come along, try to behave respectfully."

Asha looked over at Terrador as Imperia fixed her eyes on the gateway and went silent.

"I can understand Imperia's concern for Cynder." She looked to Imperia. "She'll be in the main ward; I can have a dragon guide you there as soon as we get inside."

Imperia nodded in gratitude.

Imperia trusted Asha's word, she believed that Cynder was okay.

It was Flare who she was most worried for now.

* * *

The three of them walked through the doors. Terrador looked around; fire dragons that had clearly been fighting recently were watching them with wary but hopeful eyes. He observed the destroyed buildings and the remains of still more orcs.

They walked over some rubble from a building that had been destroyed; Terrador noted the walls and ceiling of the cavern, seeing deliberately made fault lines and hidden traps in the rock. Shattershelf had many defences.

Asha called a fire dragon over to take Imperia to the ward where Cynder had been sent.

Suddenly Imperia shrieked and flew from their side straight towards a dragoness who had just limped into the room.

Her usual strange walk had been replaced by a much more mundane and painful one, but she was still spinning her beautiful tail gracefully as she moved.

"Flare!" Imperia wrapped herself around the fire dragoness and hugged her tightly. "Flare, you're ok! I was so worried!"

"I'm not exactly okay, but there are guards who'll be feeling worse in Magmar's throne room."

Asha came over. "How many guards?"

Flare smiled slightly. "Six."

"Well, I'm very glad you're not dead. I'll have the guards retrieved now." Asha turned to Terrador, leaving the two dragonesses alone for a moment.

Imperia closed her eyes and held the fire dragon close. Flare rested her head on Imperia's back and breathed in her scent deeply. Imperia's back was quite comfortable.

"Lavender, I love your smell. I have missed you so much."

"I've missed you too." Imperia kissed Flare's scales.

"I smell a lot of Volteer on you. Did you really miss me?" Flare teased. Imperia teased right back at her.

"I smell Magmar on you. You truly did do everything you could to secure an alliance with his city, didn't you? I admire your… dedication."

Flare stiffened.

"Shut up. Nothing happened and you know that perfectly well; he tried to kill me, that's why you can smell his scent."

"I know, and I'm very glad he didn't succeed." Imperia and Flare kissed.

* * *

After a few seconds Imperia and Flare heard Terrador call for them politely. They separated, but both dragonesses were smiling.

Asha and Terrador seemed to have reached some sort of agreement, Terrador turned to Flare.

"We're going to the main meeting chamber now; it's on the way to the ward where Cynder is. Ember, Flame and Feyer will be there as well."

"Actually… Cynder's there." Flare pointed, naturally she was right. Cynder was walking towards them and she looked dreadful.

She was wounded, she looked sick and weak. But it wasn't these things that caught the attention of the other dragons, Cynder looked heartbroken. Imperia immediately saw that something was very wrong. Spyro had been taken, but that wasn't all that had happened.

Imperia knew Cynder very well, and she would have expected the black dragoness to respond to Spyro's defeat and abduction with energy and a determination to do something. But the black dragoness who walked towards them now simply looked shattered.

"Cynder!" Imperia flew straight to her, gathering Cynder to her and putting her wings over her gently. Cynder folded into Imperia's hug and cried. Imperia spoke softly and soothingly to her. "Oh Cynder, my poor girl…" Imperia kissed Cynder's forehead. "It's ok… you're ok now."

"Sp-spyro's gone!"

"I know, I know he is. We'll get him back, I promise you Cynder. We'll get him back."

"Raze is dead… Feyer is dead… Ember is dying!"

Flare looked shocked. "Raze? Ember? What happened to Ember?"

Imperia didn't have a response for Cynder; she just rocked the black dragoness gently, allowing her to cry. She kissed Cynder's head again.

Flare looked at Asha. "Dragons died? Who… Where?"

Asha flinched slightly. "The fight happened in the main meeting chamber, just up there. I must warn you, it's not a pleasant scene."

* * *

Asha, Terrador, Flare, Imperia and Cynder walked into the Shattershelf meeting chamber together. The first dragon they saw was Magmar.

Even in death the fire king was intimidating. He looked as if he had died in agony, fighting to survive against an enemy he could never defeat. Asha shed a tear looking at him. Flare too looked saddened.

"I told you and Spyro that this was how dragons like Magmar met their end. No matter how good at succeeding they are, they can't help but burn themselves out in time. But I had not expected anything like this."

She bowed her head respectfully to the dead dragon.

"I wish things had turned out differently. He may have been our enemy, but he was an extraordinary dragon."

Asha shook away her tears. She wanted to hate her brother, that would be so much easier, but she couldn't. He had done what he thought was right. And if he had have succeeded; if he had killed Cynder and the Warfang dragons before going on to kill Malefor and Spyro, then she would have considered it the right thing to do just as he had done. But history was written by the victors, and her brother had finally lost.

Imperia looked on quietly, not wanting to disturb the others. As she glanced around she saw the remains of a fire dragon she recognised.

It took her a moment to place his name. Raze, that was it. He was a nice guy, not really special at all, but nice.

His skull had been crushed.

Imperia was going to walk over to him when she spotted the last of the dead dragons. The dragon was small, but no small dragons had gone with Flare to Shattershelf.

"Flare…"

Flare looked around at Imperia's soft call. She saw Imperia standing over a little crushed body. The sight almost made her heart stop.

"Spark."

* * *

 **If you wish to play a sad song, then play it now.**

* * *

Cynder had almost forgotten that the little red dragon had died. How could she have forgotten?

Simple, she'd put him from her mind. She hadn't had the time to think about him until now.

Cynder felt physical pain in her chest as she remembered that Imperia had been Spark's teacher as well as hers. She wished she'd been thinking, she should have warned the wind dragoness.

Imperia didn't even seem to realise what Flare meant.

"Who was this?"

"Imperia… I'm so sorry." Flare began to cry. "It's Spark."

Imperia had never seen Flare cry; she looked unsure now, even afraid.

"It can't be. Spark is in Warfang in bed, he's sick from eating some mushrooms. Nadder and Stratos told me so."

"His friends must have faked it for him so he could sneak away. Imperia, I had no idea… I'm… I'm so sorry."

Imperia shook her head.

"Spark isn't… he can't be…"

Flare went to Imperia's side and put her paw on that of the wind dragoness.

"He can't be… dead. He can't be." Imperia shook her head. "Not Spark."

Cynder watched Imperia, a horrible hollow feeling in her chest. She was sure could have saved him. There must have been time; she must have had a chance that she hadn't taken.

She saw his death again in her mind, feeling it burn its way in.

She saw that little smirk he'd had when he called Magmar's attention, he'd always seemed to have that smirk. Cynder remembered looking up at it after the little red dragon had interrupted her kissing Spyro.

She went to Imperia and held her, trying to offer some small comfort, like Imperia had done for her. Imperia put her wings around Cynder and Flare, she was trembling.

"He fought Magmar when Ember was in danger." She spoke softly, closing her eyes so she didn't have to look at the crumpled form of Spark or the pain in Imperia's bright eyes.

"Of course he did." Imperia sobbed slightly.

"He and Ember fought Magmar off, Spark hit him twice with a comet dash before…"

Before Magmar had struck him, knocking him into the pillar and leaving him winded and helpless. Before Spark had staggered back to his feet and Magmar had admitted he admired the young dragons skill. And she remembered Spark's grin at those words, his reply.

Cynder began to cry again.

"His… his last thoughts were of you two."

She felt Imperia tense, but she couldn't bear to open her eyes.

Flare made a sad little sound, her tail curled around to touch Cynder's.

"He hit Magmar with a comet dash before he was wounded. Magmar admired his strength and Spark said… he said…" Cynder wasn't able to continue.

Her mind was trapped in that scene, Spark and Magmar were frozen in position, as if waiting for her to say those words aloud and make everything real.

"Please tell me." Imperia whispered.

"He smirked, like he does." Cynder took a deep breath. "He said 'I learned from… from the best teachers in Warfang.'"

Magmar's voice blazed across Cynder's mind.

"That's a shame for them"

Magmar's body coiled around.

His tail came down.

Spark died.

Imperia began to cry.

* * *

The next morning found Cynder sitting beside Ember's bed.

The pink dragoness was still alive, but barely. She hadn't regained consciousness and her heartbeat was very faint.

The wound Ember had suffered would have killed anything but a dragon in minutes, but dragons were extraordinarily tough. However the healers had been forced to cauterise the wound to prevent Ember from bleeding to death and now it would not heal.

Ember had been moved to a private room, there was nothing else that could be done for her.

Cynder rested a paw on Ember's side, feeling the slightest motion of her breathing.

"Ember…"

Cynder wasn't sure what to say. There wasn't really anything to say, the pink dragoness wouldn't hear her anyway.

Cynder blinked away tears.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for a lot of things… I… I won't list them, ok? You can probably just remember most of them. But… I have to say sorry for how I treated your apology. You tried to make thigs up between us and I wouldn't let you."

There was no stopping the tears now; they fell on the pink dragoness's bed sheets in a little U pattern.

"You saved me from Magmar. It's my fault that you're like this and I don't even know why you did it. I didn't deserve that after what I did."

Cynder rested her paw on Ember's side, feeling the tiniest motion of breathing.

"Ember please please be able to hear me. Please… don't die on me now, Ember. I…"

Cynder choked, her voice cracking from emotion.

"You can forget about our challenge, forget about the end of our fight. You don't have to give up on Spyro anymore. Just… Please…"

Cynder buried her face against Ember's side.

"Don't die!"

There was no response. Cynder had always known that there wouldn't be, but she had managed to keep a tiny flicker of hope and now her hopes were crushed.

She lay still until she could bear to speak again.

"I… I don't know if that means anything… but I-I want to make this up to you… somehow."

Cynder raised her head and looked down at the still dragoness through blurry eyes.

* * *

There was a gentle knock on the door. Cynder looked around.

"Yes?"

Suna stepped into the room. He looked unsure if he was welcome.

"Hey Cynder, is Ember ok?"

"No… They say she won't survive."

"Oh."

Saying it out loud hurt Cynder, she turned away from Suna to hide her tears. After a few seconds the fire dragon walked over to her and sat beside her.

"And are you ok? I know you're not, but I want to help you."

Cynder snorted in laughter, but nothing was funny.

"Why are you here? If this is about a date then it's a very bad time."

"I know; this isn't about that. Spyro's your mate and he's in trouble, you have to get him back and if you want my help… Well… I want to help you, if I can."

Cynder didn't respond.

"You're not alone Cynder." Suna started to leave. "And Spyro needs you, you can't give up."

"Suna."

The fire dragon looked back. Cynder smiled faintly.

"Thank you."

Suna nodded and smiled in return.

"Any time." He walked out, closing the door behind him.

* * *

Cynder sat quietly for several minutes, watching Ember's breathing. The pink dragoness looked strangely peaceful, she looked happier while she was dying then she had never looked while she knew Cynder was around.

The black dragoness felt a surge of guilt. Cynder felt tears coming again and determinedly looked away from Ember at the wall, willing herself not to cry.

Somebody knocked on the door. Cynder assumed it would be Imperia, but she realised it wasn't when the familiar voice spoke. It was a male dragon's voice, not Imperia's soft one.

"May I come in?"

Cynder nodded silently, and then remembered that the visitor wouldn't know she had done so.

"Yes. You may."

She looked back at Ember as the door opened. After a few seconds the dragon spoke again from beside her. He had a rich, deep voice, but it wasn't Terrador as she had first assumed.

"This was never part of the plan."

Cynder looked up from the pink dragoness, and found she was sitting beside Malefor.

* * *

 **This chapter may not have been enjoyable to read, but I hope that you feel it was worth it.  
** **I cried while writing this.**

 **I would appreciate reviews.**

 **-4Dragons**


	28. Mercy

**There are three songs that I gave to characters in preparation for this moment. They're all on youtube.  
Cynder: Bleeding Out (Imagine Dragons)  
Ember: For Those Who Wait (Fireflight)  
Imperia: Cup Song: Extreme Edition (Jon Cozart)  
**

 **Finally this chapter has it's own song: Let Her Go (Passenger)**

* * *

Cynder stared at Malefor for a few seconds, too surprised by his sudden appearance to react. He realised that she hadn't known it was him before he entered the room and immediately stepped away from her.

"I'm not here to fight."

Cynder jumped to the other side of the room and took a ready stance. In moments her tail blade and claws were coated with lethal poison, and Malefor was clearly aware of this because he kept a respectful distance from her.

"Why should I believe you?" She hissed.

"You'll believe me in hindsight." Malefor went back to Ember's bedside and sat. "I should have known that Magmar would do something like this, but I was too focused on my own goals. By the time I learned of what had happened, it was too late."

Malefor waited a moment for a response, but didn't get one.

"I'm sure you have a lot to think about and many things that are weighing on your mind."

Malefor waited for another moment.

"I only came to do this."

The purple dragon raised his paw; deep purple light glowed around it. He gently placed his paw on Ember's neck.

Cynder watched, awed, as the terrible wound that Ember had suffered began to heal. Malefor traced the curve of Ember's throat, and her scales reformed at his touch, reconnecting. Purple light flickered like fire over the gash, brushing at Ember's scales before sinking into her body.

Malefor poured energy into his paw as he finished mending Ember's injury, he rested his paw lightly on her shoulder and within seconds Ember began to breathe more regularly and deeply.

"Power such as ours should be used for good. I hope that this eases something of your pain, Cynder."

Malefor stood and there was a flash of purple light. Cynder felt a buzz in her belly and instinctively activated dragon time, the world becoming silent and still around them. Malefor looked at her.

"Your powers allow you to join me under the effects of dragon time, activating to protect you. To any other dragon it would seem I had simply disappeared. I don't teleport." Malefor walked around Cynder to the door. "In truth I exit a room like any other dragon would, through the door."

Cynder watched as Malefor stepped out and closed the door behind him, she didn't let down her guard until the world returned to its normal colour.

* * *

Cynder almost had difficulty believing that anything had just happened. She looked around, thinking she might have dreamed Malefor's appearance, but one glance at Ember told her that he _had_ been there.

The pink dragoness was breathing deeply and peacefully, her scales were smooth and undamaged. Malefor had healed her, he had saved her.

She understood why Gracious and Seth had claimed that Malefor was a god, his powers and his methods were far beyond anything she could have expected from a normal dragon. Were they right, was he really a god? She didn't know.

Cynder was given no further time to think about what had happened, there was a knock on the door. Cynder re-poisoned her claws and tail blade, wary.

"Who is it?"

"It's Imperia, can I come in?"

"Yes."

Imperia walked through the door, smiling the moment she spotted Cynder. She had clearly been crying more since Cynder had last seen her, but her smile was genuine and Cynder felt better as soon as she saw it.

"Hi Cynder, this has been a hard day, hasn't it?"

"Yes… It has, for both of us."

Imperia slid forwards and draped her wing over Cynder; Cynder sighed and allowed herself to lean against the beautiful wind dragoness, relaxing. She took comfort from the hug, and so did Imperia.

"What's on your mind?"

"Malefor was here, in this room, just a minute ago."

Imperia tensed slightly, she looked around.

"What do you mean? Here, in a literal sense?"

"Yes in a literal sense. He came, he healed Ember, and then he left again."

Imperia looked across at Ember.

"Oh! Her wound, it's gone."

Cynder nodded. Imperia hesitated.

"Should I go and get help, or something?"

"Would it help?"

"I don't suppose it could. Not as much as a hug helps." Imperia wrapped her tail around Cynder.

"The hug is helping a lot."

Imperia nodded, she stroked Cynder's scales and rested her head against Cynder's. "It's helping me too."

The two dragons didn't move for a long while. Cynder closed her eyes and tried to forget everything that had happened, but she couldn't, not even for a few minutes. Imperia always made her feel better, but she still felt pretty bad.

"Imperia?"

The silver dragoness squeezed her lightly.

"Yes, Cynder?"

Cynder sighed, there were so many things that she needed to deal with, that she wanted to talk about.

"I'm worried about Spyro."

"Of course you are. I'd be worried about _you_ if you weren't worried about him. Then again, I'm worried about you anyway." Imperia giggled and smiled.

"I just… I just want him back." Cynder felt her eyes fill with tears; she tried to blink them away. "But I feel like I can't _do_ anything!"

"I know it's frustrating. I know you want him back." Imperia said sadly. She hesitated for a moment. "Cynder?"

"Yes?" Cynder rubbed herself against Imperia's side.

"You remember our talk about names, right? We talked about it ages ago?"

"Yes I remember. Words are easy to throw around; you should judge others by their actions. You said it to make me feel better about being called the Terror of the Skies."

Imperia laughed slightly. "Did it help?"

Cynder nodded. "You know it did."

"Philosophy and hugs are my kind of help." Imperia tried a smile, and then sighed. "This is a bit… difficult… to break to you gently, but still dramatically."

"What?" Cynder looked up at Imperia, puzzled. Imperia drew Cynder close and wrapped herself around the black dragoness.

"I know I shouldn't be, but I'm trying to be dramatic."

Imperia sighed.

"Cynder… the traitor in Warfang, the dragon working with Malefor… that dragon is me."

* * *

Cynder frowned. "What?"

"You know… the dragon that put the snake charms on you and Spyro, who arranged to have Malefor resurrected as his true self; I was the one who did those things."

Cynder tensed, Imperia held her close, but Cynder pushed her away slightly. "You were working with Malefor?" Her voice was soft, her mind worked rapidly, suddenly seeing every kind thing Imperia had ever done for her in a different light.

Imperia stepped back, sensing the first hints of anger in Cynder's voice. "Yes I was, and I have been for years."

"Before we even met." Cynder's voice was low and dangerous.

"Yes, before then. But Cynder, please, I-"

"I thought you were my friend."

"I _am_ your friend! Cynder-"

"I trusted you. I _trusted_ you!" Cynder swept wind at Imperia. The silver dragoness easily deflected it, but was driven back a step by the hurt in Cynder's voice.

"Wait, Cynder, let me explain."

Cynder was in no mood for explanations, she felt betrayed and she felt angry.

"Malefor ordered you to be my friend!"

Imperia shook her head. "No! No he didn't! Even when you were an egg I cared abou-"

"When I was an _egg_!" Cynder took a step forwards, Imperia edged back. "You've been working with Malefor for _that long_?"

"Just let me explain, Cynder. Judge me by my actions, please! I-I would never hurt you!"

"Oh I'll judge you by your _actions_ , or more accurately by your _inaction_. When the ape king Gaul trained me, and raised me to be a killer. You must have known what was happening, but where was your so called _care_ then?" Cynder swept the wind at Imperia again. Imperia didn't even try to deflect the blow and she was thrown off her feet, sprawling on the floor.

"I want to help you Cynder! Just calm down and let me talk, please!"

"I'm not listening to _anything_ you have to say!"

Cynder used wind to slam Imperia against the wall. The silver dragoness lowered her head in surrender. Cynder continued accusing her, furious, as she finally saw why Malefor had been able to outmanoeuvre and manipulate her and Spyro so completely.

"Oh yes, and if you knew me as an egg, then you worked with Malefor when the dragon temple was raided! When all those dragon eggs were destroyed _you_ were the one who allowed the apes into the temple!"

"Yes…" Imperia whispered, looking like she might start crying. Cynder stepped forwards with a snarl.

"You've always been lying to me."

"I never told you the whole truth, yes, but I didn't lie! Cynder, why would I tell you this now?"

"I don't care."

"Because I care about you! I'm trying to make up for what I've done and… for what I didn't do."

Cynder advanced, Imperia began to cry.

"Cynder… I love you. I really do."

Cynder stopped, the anger began to fade and turn to an aching feeling in her chest. "I wish I could believe you. And I wish I could trust you. But I can't. Just go."

Imperia hesitated. "Go?"

Cynder screamed at her. "Get out of my sight!"

Imperia looked shocked and hurt; she slid around Cynder and fled to the door. She stopped there to say a few more words to the black dragoness.

"I admitted that I work with Malefor because I wanted to tell you something. Spyro is at the fortress created by your controlled form, he's being held at Concurrent Skies."

"Why would you tell me that? Why would you betray Malefor now?"

"I already told you my reason. Because I love you, Cynder."

Imperia wiped tears from her snout; she slipped out of the door and left Cynder alone with Ember.

Cynder wiped tears off her own face.

"I… Imperia, I loved you too."

* * *

There was a soft sound from behind Cynder, she looked around, realising that Ember had moved. The pink dragoness slowly raised her head, looking around the room, seeming dazed.

"Cynder?"

Ember didn't appear to have spotted Cynder, which made the black dragoness wonder why hers had been the first name Ember called. She stepped forwards, uncertain, and Ember spotted her. The pink dragon looked startled, noticing the tears on Cynder's muzzle.

"Cynder, are you ok?"

Cynder didn't respond, Ember tried to get up, but she wasn't strong enough to do it.

"Cynder? What's wrong?"

"Ember… I…" Cynder faltered, feeling like she was about to cry. "I'm sorry…"

Ember used all her strength to sit up in her bed. "Don't cry, Cynder."

"But everything's going wrong! I… Spyro's gone, you were dying and Imperia… she… she's kept a secret…" Cynder trailed off. No words could express what Imperia meant to Cynder, and no words could explain how the silver dragoness had betrayed her. "I just want to say that I'm sorry."

"Hey." Ember spoke gently. Seeing how upset Cynder was. "I'm ok now, and Imperia is not a dragon who would lie to hurt someone. Cynder, you're the strongest dragon I know; you'd never just sit there and give up, you never just let yourself get swept away by bad situations. You fight; you're strong enough to face your problems."

Cynder looked at Ember, unsure how to respond. Ember continued.

"I'm sorry too, but we can make up some other time. Spyro is still gone, that's what you can do, go see Volteer, find out where Spyro is and save him."

"I know where Spyro is. Imperia told me. He's at my old fortress in Concurrent Skies."

Ember nodded, swaying slightly, she lay back down on the bed. "I'll be fine. Spyro needs your help."

Cynder nodded. "I guess… I'll see you later, Ember."

Ember didn't respond, she would still be tired and seemed to have fallen back asleep, so Cynder left the room.

* * *

Cynder vaguely remembered the way to the main doors, so she started heading in that direction. As she was walking Cynder came across the Guardians and Imperia.

Imperia was sitting opposite Flare, Terrador, Cyril and Volteer. The wind dragoness had none of her usual poise or confidence. Terrador spotted Cynder and gestured her over to them, Cynder tried not to look at Imperia, it hurt too much.

"Imperia has just made an… interesting confession."

"An implausible admission, I would say, given an opportunity to rephrase Terrador's description in an apt alternative way." Volteer spoke up.

Cyril nodded. "She claims to be an informant for Malefor. Much as I frown on her undignified behaviour I do have respect for Imperia, and find difficulty in believing that this is a genuine confession."

"It is." Cynder said softly. "She put the chains on Spyro and I, and she arranged Malefor's release."

Imperia bowed her head.

"I.." Volteer shook his head. "I don't believe that."

"Don't defend me, Volteer. It's true." Imperia whispered. Volteer stared at her, incredulous.

"Imperia?"

"I'm sorry."

Volteer was lost for words.

Terrador took a moment to gather his thoughts. "This is an unfortunate turn of events. Imperia, we can't trust you. I'll want to have you watched by guards. There are many questions that I, and the other guardians too I'm sure, would like to ask you, but now is not the time for that. You'll be taken back to Warfang until a court and trial can be held."

Imperia nodded. "That's what I'd do in your position."

Terrador sighed deeply. "Volteer, Cyril, please escort Imperia out of Shatterhshelf and back to the other Warfang dragons. Do not question her, we will deal with that later."

Volteer and Cyril both looked reluctant, but they nodded.

"Give me a moment." Imperia stepped towards Cynder, Volteer and Cyril allowed her to go past them. With a quick motion Imperia threw a long golden object to Cynder.

Cynder caught it by reflex, instantly realising that it was Imperia's spear, the Dragonslayer. The weapon weighed more then she had expected, but it wasn't heavy, and it felt very comfortable and natural to hold. She looked up at Imperia. "Why?"

"You may need it." Imperia gave Cynder a slight smile.

"What do I do with it?"

"Drop it; if it disappears before hitting the ground then it has become bound to you. It will always be there when you need it, just reach out."

Cynder warily released the spear, it gleamed as it fell, but didn't land. It simply vanished. She experimented with getting it back, her paw tingled slightly and she reached out, grasping the haft of the spear and drawing it from nowhere.

Volteer spoke up. "Imperia, that spear is powerful, unique, dangerous, it's very precious to you."

"Yes." Imperia's smile turned playful for a moment. "Just like Cynder, she is all of those things too." Her smile faded and sadness took its place.

Flare looked at Cynder.

"What will you do now?"

Cynder didn't hesitate. She twirled the Dragonslayer deftly in her paws, testing its weight and balance.

With a weapon like this she could fight Malefor. With a weapon like this she could kill him.

"I am going to save Spyro."

* * *

 **This chapter was hard to write, very hard. I'd really like to know what you thought of Imperia after reading this. She will get a chance to explain herself later. I hope you listened to Imperia's song though, finally the reason why the lyrics suit her is made clear.**

* * *

 **Important thing:**

 **28 chapters in 27 weeks; I'd never have believed I was capable of doing this if you'd asked me 30 weeks ago, but here we are. Unfortunately from now on I can't guarantee that I'll update every week.**

 **I'll still be writing of course, this story isn't nearly done, but I don't want to post short and poorly written chapters just to keep up with the schedule I've been working with until now.**

* * *

 **Other Things:**

 **I was recently asked about other Spyro stories similar to mine that I would recommend. Sadly I haven't gotten a chance to read very much before now, still I can recommend RiverStyxx's story "Tears of an Oracle" (Which I'm sure most of you will have at least considered already) and Unit-Omicron's "The Spyro and Cynder Adventures: Eternal Slumber" (Book one of a series, the first book is completed.)**

 **One other story similar to mine that I'd recommend you read is... mine.  
** **The problem with my updating only one chapter each week is that a lot can happen in a week. You might enjoy the story more re-reading it at your own pace rather then at my (respectable, but certainly not fast enough) writing pace.  
If you didn't review chapters then I'd love it if you would do so while re-reading the story, I suggest that you pay special attention to Malefor, some of his scenes seem completely different when re-read.  
I feel like my writing has improved a lot since I started this, so please forgive any mistakes I made back in the earilier chapters. Also my old authors notes were terrible. (this one is equally bad I'm sure; but I, naturally, won't realize that until five minutes after I post this)**

* * *

 **A Duel with Destiny: Song Playlist, and Reasons why I chose these songs  
(I plan to put this on my profile too, when I have time)  
There are 28 songs on this! That's the same number as I have chapters.**

 **Spyro:** I Need a Hero (I prefer the version from Shrek)  
Spyro is brave, heroic, and cool. This song is one of many that work for him, but it was the first one I thought of.  
Spyro also has another song to be revealed later...

 **Cynder:** Bleeding Out (Imagine Dragons)  
Possibly my favorite song ever. It suits Cynder rather well.  
Cynder too has a second song.

 **Sparx:** Birdhouse in Your Soul (They Might be Giants)  
The lyrics fit Sparx fairly well, but I chose this mostly because I like this song.

 **Imperia:** Cup Song: Extreme Edition (Jon Cozart)  
This song was foreshadowing chapter 28 since the beginning. Plus the split screen music making is very much Imperia's style and the song is really nice.

 **Chapter 7** : Love is Easy (McFly)  
Romantic and sweet, while also fun and slightly silly, I used this song for inspiration for Spyro and Cynder's romance.

 **Cynder vs. Ember:** It's a Brand New Day (Dr. Horrible's sing-along Blog)  
This song puts me in a mood for fighting, and the lyrics fit with Cynder's feelings at the time too.

 **Spyro and Cynder:** Guide You Home (The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of The Dragon)  
Possibly my favorite song ever. The reasons I chose it are obvious enough.

 **Spyro and Cynder:** Such Great heights (Ben Folds Cover Version)  
Also possibly my favorite song ever. It helped me get inspiration for writing Spyro and Cynder's romance

 **Other Random Music:** Nothing (The Cat Empire)  
Not sure why I recommended this, it has very little to do with the story, but I see something of myself in this song. It's a feel-good sort of song.

 **Thoran:** Indiscriminate Murder is Counterproductive (Machine Supremacy)  
The name says it all. I love this song so much.

 **Volteer:** Delilah (BigFlo)  
I have no idea what they're singing about, but it sounds really good.

 **Spyro and Cynder:** Miracle (Shinedown)  
Possibly my favourite song ever. It suits their relationship so beautifully.

 **Spyro and Cynder:** Snow Fairy (Natewantstobattle)  
This song is another one that fits the lively and fun side of SpyroXCynder.

 **Spyro and Cynder:** Stero Hearts (Gym Class heroes)  
Few songs are as good to sing along to as this one. It's romantic and it's memorable.

 **Christmassy song:** All I Want For Christmas is You (Maria Carey)  
It was Christmas when I posted chapter 20, and this is a romantic Christmas song that I really like.

 **Christmassy Song:** Do They Know it's Christmas? (Band Aid, 1984 version)  
Once again, it was Christmas. I like this song and it inspires thought.

 **Ember:** For Those Who Wait (Fireflight)  
This was forshadowing for Ember saving Cynder, the moment I heard it I was sure it had to go to Ember.

 **The Orc Army:** Pinwheel's Theme (Dark Souls OST)  
Few peices of music are as spooky yet awesome as this one.

 **Magmar:** Judgement Day Theme (Terminator 2: Judgement Day)  
This song is bot epic and sad, it suits Magmar now more then ever.

 **Gracious:** Requiem for a Dream  
This song is mournful, but undeniably impressive.

 **Spyro and Cynder:** Strength of a Thousand Men (Two Steps From Hell)  
 **Spyro and Cynder:** Dragon Rider (Two Steps From Hell)  
Two epic songs for an epic moment

 **Spyro and Cynder:** Protectors of The Earth (Two Steps From Hell)  
More serious, but no less epic

 **Malefor:** The Eternal Night Main Theme (The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night)  
Like Pinwheel's Theme this music is haunting yet awesome. Malefor can be quite theatrical.

 **Malefor:** You're Not Me (Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Movie)  
I'd still like to know how well you feel this song fits Malefor, it seems like an unusual choice to me, and I was the one who chose it.

 **Magmar's death:** Ready Aim Fire (Imagine Dragons)  
I highly suggest playing 'For Those Who Wait' and 'Judgement Day' again here.  
Magmar never did like to surrender.

 **Imperia and Spark:** Waiting Between Worlds (Instrumental version of the song by Zack Hemesy)  
I find this song sad and I think it suits the scene quite well.

 **Imperia and Cynder:** Let Her Go (Passenger)  
I suggest playing Imperia's and Cynder's themes with this song.

* * *

 **One More Thing:**

 **Imperia has a Skype account. Her Skype name is Imperia and her icon is a picture of her (Which I drew).**


	29. Separate Ways

**I have a song for this chapter: Boulevard of Broken Dreams, by Green Day. I feel it suits the mood of the overall chapter. Play it whenever you wish.**

* * *

Spyro woke up lying on a smooth cold floor. His new wind element was making his scales tingle; he opened his eyes to find out why.

He was on a hexagonal platform, tiled in black and white. The platform was familiar; he looked further out and saw grey skies. There was a storm coming, it was this that he had felt using his wind element. He raised his head and looked around, the platform had to be up in the air; it had open walls and a roof of glass above. In a few seconds he realised where he was; he was on the high tower of Cynder's fortress.

Spyro got up and noticed that his paws and his tail had all been chained to the floor. He could move a few steps to the left and right, and he could stand up and sit back down again, but he couldn't leave the platform. He struggled for a few moments before deciding that he probably wasn't going to get out of here with his physical strength alone. He'd need to think of other options.

There was a new band around his neck, similar to the snake charm that had chained him to Cynder, but this one was made of dark crystal inscribed with runes, and it was absorbing his mana, the purple dragon naturally had a huge amount of mana, but it was all gone now, the crystal must have been put on him some time ago. It seemed to Spyro that the best means of escape he had would be to shatter that crystal.

He was about to try to break the crystal when his mind was filled with thoughts of Cynder. Where was she? Was she ok?

Spyro controlled his emotions, Cynder would be fine, she was probably getting together a force of dragons to find him right now.

Spyro frowned; first she'd have to locate him, and then she'd need to get to him. Mere numbers of dragons wouldn't help her against Malefor; only another dragon with Dragon Time could hope to fight him on any sort of fair terms. Any time Malefor chose to he could freeze the other dragons in place. Perhaps if the dragons tried a surprise attack…

Spyro shook his head to clear out those thoughts; Cynder would surely be thinking the same thing. He didn't need to work it out, Cynder would figure out how to save him herself, he trusted her completely. While he waited for her to rescue him he might as well see if he could escape on his own.

Spyro tried to bite the dark crystal, but he couldn't quite get his mouth on it. That wasn't going to work. He smashed his chest into the floor, hoping to shatter the crystal with his weight, he did it several more times but after a few minutes all he had managed was to make himself sore.

He gave up on escape for a bit and looked around. This was a rather nice place actually. The storm was somewhat threatening, but the architecture was most impressive and made the whole place feel majestic, and also rather dramatic. He wondered how this fortress had been made, had Cynder built it herself?

Spyro turned his head to look directly behind him, smiling as his mind was filled with memories of his previous visit here. Ignitus had been trapped in an energy field up there on another part of the platform and Spyro and Sparx had come to save him, fighting and defeating Cynder to do so. The adult Cynder from back then looked quite similar to the beautiful Cynder he loved now, he thought of how scared he had been to fight her and of how everything had turned out. The thought made him smile again. Spyro struggled to pull his tail out of the chains, but he wasn't able to.

Cynder would come here and save him, just as he had once come here. Then he would be playing the role of Ignitus, she would be him and Malefor would be Cynder's evil self. All things considered Spyro was in a remarkably good mood.

* * *

Spyro heard a dragon approaching from behind him and looked around. Malefor walked up to him and sat beside him.

"You seem quite cheerful, Spyro."

Spyro looked at the older purple dragon for a few moments, and then he shrugged. "This is a nice enough place to be imprisoned."

Malefor glanced around. "Speaking as something of an expert on unpleasant prisons, I must say that I agree completely. It's wise to treat potential allies with kindness."

"Are you still asking that? Well the answer is still no; I'm not going to join your side."

Malefor looked amused. "We aren't on opposing sides, Spyro, we never have been."

"Could have fooled me, what with all the trying to kill us and whatnot. It certainly _seemed_ as if we were on opposing sides."

"Well, you know how complicated life can be."

Spyro didn't respond. Malefor activated dragon time; he stood and circled around Spyro to sit in front of him, Spyro watched him cautiously. Malefor deactivated his dragon time so he could talk to Spyro again.

"Now that we can talk I'd like to discuss a theory I have with you. I've been told that you have done some research into the nature of magic itself. I have been researching the same topic for some time now."

"Who told you that?"

Malefor considered the question. "What do you mean?"

"You might as well tell me who your traitor is, it's not like I'm going anywhere."

Malefor shook his head, amused.

"I think the word traitor isn't accurate in this case, the dragon you refer to is just as much a friend to you as they are a friend to me and they betrayed no-one. However I will not name them."

"So this friend of yours knows me personally?"

Malefor sighed and spoke patiently. "May I continue with what I was saying?"

Spyro nodded, deciding to think more about the traitor later. He wondered if Cynder would have worked out who it was. Either way she would probably come to rescue him alone, bringing more dragons would only slow her down. Spyro got lost in thought, thinking about Cynder coming to save him, fighting her way past Malefor to get to him. He had to admit that he rather liked the idea. He noticed Malefor watching him and shook his head to clear it.

"Sorry… uh, yes, I've been working out how the elements interact with each other as mana, and from there I'd come to believe that wind was the fifth guardian element, which it is."

"And you were quite correct." Malefor nodded. "But I'd like to talk specifically about dragon time, and about dragons."

"Dragons are weird in time." Spyro offered helpfully. Malefor smiled.

"So you've seen it too. Good, before now I couldn't ignore the fact that my senses alone weren't enough evidence to support my theory. Can you try to describe this 'weirdness in time' a bit more? What made you choose those words?"

"Cynder said them to me a while ago."

"Ah, all three of the Dragon Time users have noticed it. That's excellent."

"It's like time is an energy field that passes through everything… except dragons."

"Indeed, I've seen the same thing."

"You know, Cynder and I were actually planning to ask you about that."

Malefor looked slightly surprised. "Really?"

"Yep, although I hadn't exactly planned to be in chains while asking."

"Things have a strange way of working out, don't they? Well I've been studying this for some time, and the most logical conclusion I can draw is that dragons don't age."

Spyro raised his eyebrow. "I, uh, have trouble believing that." He had, after all, well more than tripled in size since he and Cynder had fought the Dark Master for the first time.

Malefor laughed. "You misunderstand. Dragons grow and change, but that is merely our physical form. We know that dragons are the only creatures capable of naturally using mana, but I feel that this isn't the extent of our uniqueness. Dragons may grow older, but they are not aging in the fashion that other things in our world do. I believe that our race is, in a manner, immortal."

"What?" Spyro found that hard to believe. "Are you sure?"

"No, but I think it is the most likely reason for a number of things that would otherwise be much harder to explain."

"But if dragons are immortal then why are there so few of us compared to the other races? I mean sure dragonesses are only fertile once every four years, but there have been a lot of four year cycles in the past."

"Yes, that is the crux of the problem, isn't it? Why are there so few dragons?"

"It sort of messes up the whole theory, in my opinion."

"The answer is because dragonkind has incessantly been at war, either amongst ourselves or with the other races. But it isn't _that_ we've been at war which concerns me, it's _why_."

Spyro thought about the question for a few seconds, and then decided to take the bait that Malefor was offering him.

"And… why have dragons been at war?"

"As I said, that is the problem."

"But you have a reason, don't you?"

"I do have a reason." Malefor smiled. "But now is not the time for me to share it. We have more immediate concerns."

"What concerns?"

"Dark Spyro."

A sort of shiver ran through Spyro as Malefor said the name, he hesitated. "Why… why is that an immediate concern?"

"Because I have taken a risk, and it is possibly one that I should not have taken. Up until now I had you and Cynder connected by a chain of magic, Cynder's presence was the factor that kept your darker side under control. In separating you from her I have taken some risk."

"Well yes… but I'm still fine aren't I?"

"The symbols on the dark crystal band around your neck are keeping Dark Spyro contained."

Another shiver took Spyro at those words. "Okay?" he said cautiously. Malefor noticed the shiver; he too had been struck by a similar effect when the name The Dark Master had been mentioned in the past. It haunted him no longer, but still brought back memories the ancient purple dragon preferred to forget.

"But in doing so the crystal band has brought your dark side closer to the surface of your personality; that was the other risk I took. With Cynder now not here for you to care about, I am certain that as soon as that chain is removed your dark side will take control and begin to rampage."

"Wow… ten out of ten genius planner at work here, huh?" Spyro said sarcastically. Malefor looked slightly annoyed as Spyro insulted him.

"On the contrary, your dark side needs to be freed if it is to be destroyed, saving Cynder and myself was done in that manner, and you will be the same. This way I won't need to resort to using my magic to cause you to have a switch; you will simply have one of your own accord."

"Goodbye Cynder's Fortress, then, is it?"

"Indeed, you would wreak havoc on this place and could even overpower me or escape me, which is why I've arranged a safe place for your dark form to live in while I work on destroying it and not destroying you."

"A safe place? Where could possibly be safe?"

"The same place where it was safe to let Cynder's dark side take control of her, and where the Dark Master waited for thousands of years without escaping. I'll put you in Convexity."

"Oh… right. It explains why you brought me here of all places, it's where Cynder created a portal to Convexity last time. That's not a totally awful plan after all."

Malefor laughed. "I'm glad that you think so."

There was a moment of silence after he had spoken. Eventually Malefor spoke again.

"There are many things I'd like to discuss with you and explain, but now isn't the time for that. I am loath to spoil your good mood, but I should tell you that Cynder will not be likely to come and try to rescue you any time soon."

Spyro stiffened, his acceptance of being captured vanished as he felt concern for the black dragoness. He strained to get out of his shackles.

"What do you mean? What happened? Is she okay?"

"After I took you the fire dragon Magmar attempted to assassinate her and several of the other Warfang dragons. Apparently the truce between Shattershelf and Warfang was largely dependent on your survival, and my presence put that in doubt. Cynder fought and killed Magmar and the fire dragons immediately surrendered again to Warfang once he was dead."

"Cynder's ok? She isn't hurt?"

"She's okay, but two dragons called Raze and Feyer are dead." Malefor looked sad. "Also a young dragon called Spark."

Spyro stopped struggling. "Spark is dead?"

"Yes."

Spyro sat quietly for a moment. "How long was I unconscious?"

"You've been unconscious for just under one day."

Spyro absorbed this information in silence, then spoke again softly. "The last thing I remember was you hitting me with fire."

"Yes, I stunned you and removed your chain."

"Right. But what happened in the rest of your fight with Cynder?"

"Nothing. I had captured you, so I stopped including her in dragon time and left while everyone was frozen in place."

Spyro was unsettled by this explanation. "Stopped including her in dragon time?"

"Yes. She has never used dragon time before this week; I know that for a fact. She has very little practice and could use dragon time for perhaps two minutes at the most, you are more practiced and I'd prepared for you to be capable of a maximum of five minutes."

"It's only three." Spyro admitted.

"I had only been able to do three at your age, but I knew you were skilled and so I planned for a worst case scenario. After you were stunned and Cynder had ran out of dragon time I simply left."

"You… stalled… your offer to us was you stalling for the five minutes that you estimated I could keep dragon time, after that you never even needed to fight! You could have just frozen us and captured us."

"The offer was and is genuine, but yes. I admit I was stalling for time."

"It was never a fair fight, not in any way."

"No. I don't plan fights I may not win, your defeat and capture was certain from the moment you stepped into the fire dragon city."

Spyro took a few seconds to process this information. He realised that for all of his and Cynder's speculation on how to fight Malefor, and their decision to be cautious of his powers, they had still managed to completely and disastrously underestimate him.

Malefor too spent a few seconds thinking, deciding if it was wise for him to say more now. He had as much time as he needed, and his experiments and experiences with his own dark side, as well as with Cynder's and Spyro's, had taught him a lot about how to deal with them. He decided to leave Spyro alone until the next morning. He would have orcs bring food for the young purple dragon.

"I shall talk to you again tomorrow, Spyro." Malefor turned away.

"Please do. It's not like there's much else I have to occupy my time." Spyro responded immediately, only half being sarcastic.

Malefor smiled. "I'll have food brought to you." He left the tower quietly.

Spyro sighed and sat down, making his chains clink. High above him, standing still on the roof of the tower, a skeletal winged creature watched his every movement with sharp eyes.

Already the General had gathered valuable information about Spyro from watching his movements and reactions to Malefor, it waited and observed patiently, already it was preparing a full report and detailed analysis for its master.

* * *

Ignitus looked around at the rows upon rows of books that surrounded him and sighed in frustration.

Malefor had come for him; Ignitus had been given no warning, and had been caught almost entirely off guard. He knew he was lucky to still be alive, but at this particular moment he felt that being killed by the purple dragon would have been less of a hassle.

Everything he had done to try to stop Malefor had failed completely, and the purple dragon had simply walked in. The ancient defences that warded and guarded the White isle had barely slowed him down.

Malefor had wrought havoc on his library. He had done no harm to the books themselves, much to Ingitus' relief. But Malefor hadn't left the library untouched, he had destroyed something else.

The library of the Chronicler was practically infinite. It contained books detailing the lives of every dragon that had ever lived, and it was nearly impossible to find anything in it. Over the past several thousand years the previous chronicler, or past chroniclers, Ignitus couldn't be sure how many had come before him or indeed when exactly they had come; had managed to create a magical system for organising the books.

This system didn't organise based on title, or author. Many of the books had neither of those two distinguishing features. The magic that was woven through the library of the chronicler ordered the books based on their subject, and more specifically based on how prominent their subject was in the mind of the searcher.

A dragon looking for books on history could find them no matter where they looked, if they were looking in the right way. Should their mind wander then they could end up finding books on any number of other subjects.

Malefor had broken this system; he had put it in utter chaos. Wherever Ignitus looked he only ever found one book. He could put it down on a shelf and pick up the book next to it, only to find he had somehow still picked up the same book.

The only book he could find was the history of Malefor.

Ignitus had spent several painful hours trying to restore the magic of thousands of years to its working state, but he'd had no success. The ancient purple dragon had ruined it beyond his ability to repair.

It had taken no more than a few minutes for Ignitus to dismantle the magic, but doing so had felt like sacrilege to him.

He looked around the library of the chronicler now, and he had lost his way to tell where everything was. But somehow he hadn't. On pure instinct Ignitus walked through the shelves, spotting familiar books as he went, now that he was cut off from the magic that had been created by the chroniclers of the past he was seeing the library from a new perspective. He knew that something was missing; he could feel it like a soft headache behind his eye.

Malefor had taken Spyro's book. He had made no secret that he had done so, he had simply taken it and Ignitus had been powerless to stop him. But Ignitus knew how clever Malefor was, and he feared that there would be more missing books.

Why else would Malefor have done so much damage to his library system? The purple dragon would have done it deliberately. He would have stopped Ignitus from knowing which books he'd taken and then used dragon time or some other magic to conceal them and take them away.

He had searched urgently, but carefully, for books that might be missing, but it was impossible for him to know what was gone when he had barely known what was there in the first place.

He found that his headache intensified as he searched, he lost all track of time as he scanned over thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of books.

At last his eyes fell on a slim book bound in black. He didn't recognise it. Most of the books that he had in the library were heavy tomes with lots of information in them. This book was very unusually small, but even as he looked at it the pain in his head began to grow. He walked towards the book, wincing as he moved.

He took it from the shelf and looked at it warily. The pain in his head began to ease as he held it. The book had no title.

He felt a sense of foreboding, like a shiver running up his back.

Ignitus opened the book cautiously, treating it as if it might explode. He read it quietly, growing more and more disturbed as he did. He threw the book down and hurried to get a different book. He was fortunate to remember passing it earlier, and he found it quickly. Ignitus rapidly flicked through pages, reading much faster than any normal dragon could have managed.

The book he had gone to get had been written by two of the previous Chroniclers, and was almost incalculably old. Its subject was the future, and the past.

The first part of this book had been written when the Chronicler of that time had discovered a new book. They had given no information as to what this book contained, and the entire account was disappointingly vague about many things that Ignitus would have been grateful to know.

A second dragon, with different writing and a different pen had later returned to the book, writing more in it and making many alterations. The second dragon had come to finish it after the future told in the mystery book had come to pass.

Ignitus looked down at the nameless book, the slim volume lay where he had left it, and on its spread pages were two pictures that filled the old dragon's heart with dread.

 _Two purple dragons, lying side by side. Dead. A city in ruins around them._

 _A black dragoness, alone, buried in a cave deep below the earth, crying uncontrollably._

He had to go. He had to stop this future.

* * *

A wind dragon was lying on the stone floor of a Warfang dungeon. The first living being that had been imprisoned in those cells in at least six years, the first dragon to be imprisoned there in decades, and the first guardian dragon to be locked in the Warfang dungeons ever.

Imperia was rather proud of her ability to break records and become the first to do things, becoming the first wind guardian dragon in history was one of her greatest successes, but she had to admit that she would have preferred not to be credited with this particular accomplishment. Indeed some records didn't need to be made. For example there was no record of which dragon had killed the most other dragons in history, and it would be nice if that remained a mystery.

Imperia tapped her claws on the stone thoughtfully. She knew her history, and spent a few minutes trying to work out who the top contenders would be. Magmar had been infamous for his willingness to kill, but she supposed that it had been the ancient black Darkmire dragon that had killed the most dragons, and that particular record certainly did not deserve to be broken.

Imperia knew she was distracting herself with pointless trivia, but she really did have nothing better to do.

She was trapped.

Her silver neck band had been connected by magic to a green glowing chain, which in turn had been fixed to a hook on the back wall of her cell. Imperia had already tried to break both the hook and the chain.

Imperia had been the one who designed the snake bands Spyro and Cynder had worn; she had been taught how to make them by Malefor and had built them to his specifications with a bit of her own design flair thrown in, she was proud of her work on those bands. She had then used her knowledge to create the hook and chain which now bound her.

It struck her as ironic, that she was being imprisoned by a device of her own making. But she knew perfectly well that she had no chance of breaking it, and the guardians knew that too. It was locked by a key that Terrador would undoubtedly keep with him.

She felt that at least _some_ sort of escape attempt would be expected of her. It was what an obliging captive would do, particularly if they had Imperia's reputation for being… whatever it was that she was; she didn't know if there was a single word that summed her up properly.

For her first escape attempt she'd used wind blades to try to cut the bars, but this had barely scratched them. Ramming the door with her shoulder had been laughably ineffective and had made her feel rather silly for trying it. She's then tried to pick the lock, which hadn't gotten her anywhere. Even if she hypothetically could get past the bars on her cell then the chain would still keep her trapped down here, and she'd get into trouble with the others for trying to escape.

The wind guardian reassured herself that her escape attempts were just another distraction. Her _actual_ plan was to wait for the other four guardians to come down and visit her, then to simply talk to them, maybe flash a smile, do some flirting, and ask to be let out again.

Imperia knew would need to answer questions, and she intended to just be honest. It wouldn't be difficult for her to convince them that she was no threat.

Imperia was extremely confident that this plan would work; the other four Guardians were her friends after all, as well as being intelligent, powerful, polite and good natured dragons. Plus she was in a romantic relationship with two of them.

Imperia sighed and rolled onto her back, stretching like a cat and sighing in pleasure. The cell wasn't so bad really; there were narrow windows high above that let in a decent amount of light. She floated up into the air and moved a metre to her left so her silver belly could be warmed by sun from one of the windows. Just as she relaxed back to the floor she heard a dragon coming to visit her.

There was one long set of stairs that led from the cells up to the base of the dragon temple. The temple had been relocated after Malefor had destroyed it and therefore it was newly built. The cells were much older, so the moles had needed to build the temple to fit in with the existing buildings. Imperia had taken a lot of interest in the work they had done, and she was friends with some of the moles who had worked near her current cell.

The stairs were straight, with no side passages or forks, and they sloped down through the rock to the small area where the prisoners were kept. Imperia was the only prisoner, therefore she had a visitor. She sensed the dragon with her wind magic and quickly recognised the figure as being Terrador. About a minute later the powerfully built earth dragon emerged into the room.

"Hi there." Imperia smiled at him. "Is this the part where we're both friends so you let me go? I figure it isn't, because Flare, Volteer and Cyril will need to be here as well so that I can be officially released."

"The four of us will question you tomorrow." Terrador said briefly.

"Oh good. I've been terribly bored down here. I don't suppose you brought me a book?"

"I'm afraid not."

Imperia sat up, flicking her tail.

"Aww, how hard could it be? My tower is about… What, five minutes' walk away? Just talk to one of the students in my class, they all love me, they'd bring their poor teacher a book if you told them they were allowed to." Imperia smiles brightly.

"They're grieving. Spark is dead."

Terrador felt guilty for saying that as soon as he saw Imperia's eyes fill with tears. The silver dragoness bowed her head and looked away from him. He realised that Imperia had been trying not to think about the dead dragons.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"I… I would be very grateful… if you would let any of them who want to talk to me… if you told them that I would talk to them."

"Not today. I'm sorry, Imperia."

"I understand." Imperia said quietly.

"I'll have books brought down to you." Terrador said. "And I have an urgent question for you. Cynder has left, she came back to Warfang with the rest of us, but this afternoon she departed without telling anyone where she was going, saying only that she was going to save Spyro. I am certain that you told her where to go, and I would ask you to tell me where she is going."

"I can't tell you." Imperia said softly. She looked up at Terrador sadly. "If Cynder didn't tell you then she doesn't want you to know, and… I can't…"

Terrador hesitated. He could have tried to force Imperia into telling him, and he probably would have gotten the information out of her, but he didn't want to do so.

"I'll make sure someone brings you books. You'll be questioned soon, and perhaps released, if we decide we can trust you. I hope you'll change your mind about telling us where Cynder is going, it would go some way towards restoring my personal trust in you."

Terrador turned and walked back up the stairs. Imperia listened to him leaving, trying to control the feeling of misery that was welling up from inside her.

* * *

Cynder flew alone in the evening sky. To an observer she might have seemed peaceful and relaxed, gliding in smooth arcs as she flew over the forest. She was going west, out towards where the dragon temple had once been located. Beyond that was where she would find Concurrent Skies and the fortress she had once ruled.

Cynder was physically relaxed, but her mind was racing with plans, ideas and the occasional unhelpful moment of fear. She certainly wasn't peaceful.

She hadn't told the others where she was going, of course, and she didn't think they would have been able to follow her, she was a wind dragon after all and she flew very fast. Cynder wasn't certain that she had made the right decision in not telling the others where she was going. Other dragons would only slow her down, she thought. But on the other hand she would have been glad to have someone she trusted to watch her back and someone to talk to, someone to help her keep calm and make a plan.

She wished that she could be travelling to save Spyro with Imperia.

Cynder didn't know what would be going on between Malefor and Spyro. No doubt Spyro would have hope that she would come and rescue him, which she certainly did plan to do. Malefor would be there, and who knew what he might be saying to Spyro even now. Would he try to turn Spyro to the dark side? Malefor was unpredictable, and Cynder didn't know what he would be doing with Spyro. She remembered that Gracious and Seth, who worshipped Malefor, had talked about destroying the darkness within Spyro. Would Malefor try to do that? How did that even work?

She needed to rescue him.

Cynder was flying in arcs rather than a straight line because she was looking for somewhere to touch down and spend the night. A small clearing looked like a good spot, so she circled down towards it.

From several hundred metres out Cynder realised there was a creature in the clearing. It was roughly her size and was not moving, so she flew closer. In a moment she recognised that it was a dragon curled up on the ground.

Cynder considered her options for a moment. She was confident enough of being able to subdue any dragon she might find out here, if they were an enemy. The problem was that then she'd need to sleep and they might wake up and attack her.

She could leave and go looking for somewhere else to spend the night, she supposed, but again she would be at risk of being attacked while she slept.

The first thing to do, she decided, was to go down and find out more about the sleeping dragon. Why were they here? Where were they going? The black dragoness shrouded herself in shadows and floated down through the trees. Her smoky form folded around the leaves and the branches and she touched down on the ground silently.

The dragon did not move as Cynder approached; Cynder crouched low and slithered towards them, ready to spring if she needed to attack.

The sleeping dragon was pink.

" _Ember!?_ "

* * *

 **Writing this chapter was something of a trial. I had a general plan up until now, but from here on up the story is a lot less clear to me. Still, I have some idea of what's to come, and it should be good to read (I hope!)**

 **I'm sorry to say that the next chapters will also be slow in coming. Aside from what I've already mentioned there's the minor problem that Dark Souls 3 comes out in 11 days (as of this chapter being posted) and I'm super excited. That's probably going to eat a lot of my writing time, but the good news is that I'm seriously considering writing a Dark Souls fanfiction.**

 **Review with comments and questions if you're enjoying the story, and thank you everyone for reading!**

 **-4Dragons**


	30. Playing God

**I've spent this week getting high on inspiration, whic has made a nice change from the terrible months that preceeded it. I have no excuses for the delay, and I wouldnt bother to list them if I did, but I can promise the next chapter is nearly ready and will be posted in the next few weeks!**

 **Hopefully that makes you happy, and now that you're in a good mood I'd like to once again ask for lots of thoughtful reviews!  
Imagine if I got one from every single one of my readers, that would be quite a sight...  
No matter when you're reading this I'll still read and appreciate a review you write, so don't worry if there are 80 chapters after this one, review this one anyway! :P**

* * *

Spyro could see no way of escaping his current predicament. The dark crystal band on his neck was sapping almost all of his energy; he still had enough mana to sense the air around him, enough to give a static shock perhaps, but nothing more. He could also sense the stone of the platform beneath his paws. He had tried to use magic to shatter the stone that held his rear left leg, that stone had been weak and he could sense it, but he didn't quite have enough magic to force the weaknesses to crack.

He could, however, whistle.

Spyro had seen Imperia sing before, and she'd been capable of two, three and even four part harmonies with herself. Listening to her sing was an amazing experience.

Cynder too had been capable of singing with both her and Spyro's voice, and her singing was no less beautiful. Spyro thought himself a dreadful singer, but he was now planning to get lessons.

Unfortunately merely having wind magic didn't give him much control over the sound and pitch of his voice; he would need to practice that part of singing in the future. The good news was that he had only taken twenty minutes to learn how to speak and make it sound as if his voice was coming from different places. Even with his very limited powers he could affect the wind that much.

It was a cool trick; one that the wind dragons Spyro had met really seemed to like doing. Now he knew how to do it too. Spyro was pleased with that.

A whistle was a simple sound, and Spyro had decided to start whistling at one pitch, and then use wind to throw his voice before whistling at a different pitch. It should have let him whistle in harmony with himself, but for some reason he wasn't having much success. The whistle simply changed pitch to what he was doing with his mouth, no matter where the sound came from.

There had to be more to it than just that. Imperia or Cynder would teach him whatever he hadn't managed to figure out.

Spyro looked up at the sun, dawn had broken almost an hour ago, but there were always clouds shrouding Concurrent Skies. The sun was really only a brighter smudge in the dull cloud cover. The best way to see came from the lightning, which was remarkably frequent and came every few seconds. It was mostly cloud to cloud lightning, and it was quieter then cloud to earth lightning, but it was no less bright and it lit the area for about half a second with each flash.

He could see a few of the lower towers of the fortress from his platform, and the highest tower disappeared into the clouds above him. When he reared up on his hind legs he had a fairly good view of the whole rooftop. Spyro hadn't liked the place when he'd first come here, young and terrified, to save Ignitus. But it was beginning to grow on him now, and he wondered if Cynder would feel the same way when she arrived.

The purple dragon hoped that Malefor would show up soon, he was bored, and there was no denying that Malefor made for interesting conversation.

Spyro's wish was promptly granted. He saw a dark shape flying towards the fortress, as the shape neared he recognised that it was a dragon, and after several more seconds Malefor landed lightly on the platform.

"Good morning." Spyro spoke politely and nodded to Malefor.

Malefor nodded in return, amused by the casual greeting. He didn't really want Spyro to be fearful of him, so the younger dragon's confidence was only a good thing. All the same Malefor found that it distracted him slightly to be addressed in such a manner. Only one other dragon did that to him.

"Good morning to you too, I hope you slept well."

"Not badly, but the wind and thunder were a bit loud."

"Be glad of that. The sounds you'd hear if the storm wasn't so loud would cause you to have much greater difficulty in getting to sleep." Malefor gave Spyro an enigmatic, and slightly sinister, smile.

"What sounds?" Spyro asked.

"Let's just say that it's not silent Orcs that guard us here." Malefor sat down and relaxed. "The Dark Master did a lot of things that I regret, things I would take back if I had the chance. Yet some of the things that he did will benefit dragonkind in the future."

Spyro frowned. He took some time to just listen, and after a moment the faintest sound from down below reached his ears.

"They loath the light of day, but the clouds here offer them some shelter from the pain. When they are disturbed you can hear them shrieking and howling."

It was a chattering sound, and a shrieking. It was familiar to the younger purple dragon.

"I hear… the apes."

Malefor nodded.

"Yes, or what's left of them. It grieves me that the Dark Master chose to end their race-"

"I'm sure you manipulated him into doing so." Spyro said in a soft accusing voice. Malefor flinched, a genuine physical flinch at Spyro's words. Spyro stared at him in surprise.

"I had a chance to stop him… a chance which I did not take. But he made his choice on his own, without me. Now the apes are ended, wiped from the known world. Perhaps there are others on different worlds, but not here. There are only four greater races now."

"And you'd cut that down to one without a second thought, wouldn't you?"

Malefor looked hurt for a very brief moment, and then he controlled himself.

"I have no taste for genocide; I wouldn't destroy the moles, wolves or cheetahs. I have regretted not stopping the Dark Master from unleashing his curse on the apes; I have regretted it since the day that he did it."

Spyro realised he had actually been getting through to Malefor's genuine emotions, and he felt strangely guilty for doing so.

"I shouldn't have said that to you."

"Perhaps not... But your reaction isn't unreasonable."

Spyro nodded.

"This world has lost something valuable now that they are gone; the apes were quite remarkable in their own way." Malefor spoke softly; he was remembering his dealings with the apes in the past. "Now they are but hateful and desperate shades, clinging to what little shreds of life they have left. Their nearness to death has only increased their fear of it. Perhaps I should put them out of their misery, but I cannot bring myself to do it."

"You won't let them pass from this world while they still have use, you mean. The apes were always clever; you're using them as guards and probably as spies. _That's_ why you won't just finish destroying them."

"I am using them as guards, yes, although they make poor spies. The apes also know many things; I feel their knowledge shouldn't die with their race." Malefor sighed. "That's the strictly logical reason I have for not exterminating what's left of the apes."

He didn't say any more. Spyro didn't need to know any more.

* * *

Cynder and Ember had spent an awkward night together, there had been no conversation, and there hadn't been very much cooperation either.

The awkwardness continued over that morning. Both of them were awake before dawn, because neither of them had wanted to be asleep when the other woke up. Naturally it was too dark to tell who really woke up first, but the awkwardness stayed.

The two of them sat in uncomfortable silence for a while, as the sun rose. Eventually Cynder spoke.

"So… What are you doing here?"

The pink and gold dragoness hesitated for a moment.

"I knew you'd go looking for Spyro, and I wanted to help."

"Everyone knew I'd go looking for Spyro. But nobody in Warfang knows where I'm going, I didn't tell anybody. So how did you end up here?"

"You told me, you told me right after you found out, when you were upset about Imperia."

"Oh…" Cynder felt a soft pain in her chest at the mention of Imperia. She retreated into silence for a few minutes. Ember gave her time.

"I'd forgotten that I told you." Cynder eventually said.

Cynder wasn't sure what to make of Ember, hopefully they weren't enemies, but they also weren't exactly friends. She had wanted help in her mission to rescue Spyro, but she had been wishing for Imperia, and Ember was pretty much the last dragon she would have chosen to help her. Ember had determination, Cynder had to admit that, but she was also not very experienced with real combat. Plus she knew that Ember still liked Spyro, and that complicated matters even more; Ember could profit from betraying Cynder.

Cynder didn't like the feeling of not knowing who she was dealing with.

Ember, on the contrary, knew exactly who she was dealing with. One of the most lethal dragons she had ever met; a hero, a fighter, a living legend. Cynder was a dragon far more powerful and skilled then Ember herself was. Ember had practically nothing she could offer the black dragoness. She didn't think she had any special knowledge, and she surely had no unique talents. Anything she could do Cynder would certainly be able to do better. She half expected Cynder would tell her off for coming and then send her straight back to Warfang. She felt childish and weak compared to the black dragoness.

Ember did sincerely want to help, but she was terrified that Cynder would laugh in her face. She knew there was no way that Cynder would want her help.

"How did you get here so fast?" Cynder asked.

Ember was caught off guard by the question, the pink dragon had been trying to work out ways that she could be sent back to Warfang by Cynder that didn't involve her being humiliated, and had been caught up in deciding if she should simply offer to go back in order to get help from the Guardians. That way she at least wouldn't be laughed at, and Cynder could also send her away without feeling guilty.

"Umm…" Ember faltered as she collected her thoughts. "Well, I left directly from Shatterhself as soon as I had recovered enough to fly. I didn't go with the others back to Warfang, I came straight here."

"Oh." Cynder said again.

Another minute passed, Ember waited for Cynder to tell her to go away.

"We had better get started. It'll take us some time to get to Concurrent Skies."

* * *

Spyro was no longer certain that he had genuinely hurt Malefor with his accusation, or if the purple dragon had simply been pretending to be hurt in order to make Spyro feel guilty. Did Malefor have emotion, or was he emotionless? Spyro had no way to be sure. His instincts told him that Malefor had been genuinely hurt, but the metaphorical jury what still out as far as his reasoning was concerned.

"So… what things do the apes know that are worth knowing?"

"Many things. Why do you ask?"

Spyro shrugged. "It's just something I'm curious about. Learning more, that is. I like to know things."

"That's a trait we share." Malefor smiled. "I'm willing to share what I know with you."

"You did offer to teach Cynder and me."

Spyro spoke casually, but he had to wonder if this was a trap. He hadn't trusted the offer when Malefor had first made it, and now he had asked Malefor for teaching, and he wasn't sure if Malefor had manipulated him into asking that.

"I sense your mistrust." Malefor smiled. "Really, I understand why you might not trust me. But we can work together."

Spyro sighed. He had been cautious enough, and had been very wary of Malefor's motives up until now. He had to wonder if perhaps he hadn't needed to be. Maybe he could trust the older purple dragon.

"Ok then… I'll accept your offer. I'd like to learn what you know. Not just about the apes, but about everything."

Malefor looked pleased. "Thank you, Spyro." He stood up. "Let's begin now."

"I've been wondering how my wind element works. I haven't had it for long, and I was trying to figure out how to speak and say different things at the same time."

Malefor nodded. "We'll start with that then."

After all, Spyro thought, it wasn't like trusting Malefor could make things any worse.

* * *

Cynder flew in the lead, her wind magic gently speeding the two dragonesses on their way. Ember was flying behind her, occasionally flapping her wings to keep herself on course. She couldn't help watching Cynder fly. The black dragon moved without effort, with no need to flap her wings, and with indescribable beauty and grace.

Ember sped up to fly beside Cynder. She felt like talking, but wasn't really sure what to talk about.

She was spared the awkwardness as Cynder grew tense and a distant storm appeared on the horizon. Ember looked to the front.

"Is that Concurrent Skies?" She asked.

Cynder glanced across at her and nodded briefly. "That's it. It's always stormy there."

The two girls got closer to the storm. Ember whistled; feeling impressed.

"It's pretty spooky."

"It gets much better, believe me."

"And by better you mean worse."

"Yep, that's exactly what I mean by better."

Cynder looked across at her and nodded, Ember nodded back hesitantly.

"Cynder?"

"Yes Ember?"

"Do we have a plan, for when we arrive? What do we do once we get to the fortress?"

"No, I don't have a plan. I figure Spyro will be imprisoned somewhere inside, so we'll need to search. Malefor is likely to be around, and it'll certainly be best if we don't run into him."

Ember flew quietly, thinking about what Cynder had said. It didn't really seem like a great plan, but she certainly didn't have anything better.

The two dragons flew over bleak rock and bright crystal. The storm above grew deeper and darker, and as they glided further into the shadows of Concurrent Skies the crystals below them grew bigger and bigger.

The wind howled in the distance, the sound was a bit unsettling, and it was growing louder and louder. The air almost seemed to crackle with energy; Cynder could smell electricity around them. The smell was ozone, and while Cynder didn't know what to call it she knew that it was associated with lightning and electric dragons. Volteer sometimes smelt faintly of it.

"This place is sort of beautiful." Ember said thoughtfully.

"Yes it is." Cynder agreed. Then she pointed ahead. "We've arrived."

The fortress towered above the fields of crystal, it was vast and intimidating. Ember stared at it in awe, trying to decide if she ought to be impressed or terrified.

Cynder too was feeling conflicting emotions, seeing this place brought back bad memories, and she did not want to go any closer. But she knew that she had to.

"It's incredible!" Ember eventually said, her sense of wonder briefly overcoming her dread.

Cynder didn't reply. Ember glanced across and saw the grim expression on the face of her partner; she grew serious.

"Spyro's in there somewhere." Ember added. "And we need to find him."

Cynder nodded silently. Then the black dragoness glanced down. She flew higher.

"Ember, come up here." Cynder said calmly. Ember did as she'd been instructed.

"What about the lightning? If we fly higher we might get hit." Such an event was improbable, and it wouldn't be lethal to a flying dragon, but it would certainly ruin their day.

"I'd rather take that risk then fly too close to _that_." Cynder pointed down.

Ember looked down at the forest of bright crystal and felt a chill run through her scales.

 _Things_ were moving down there. Shapes which were impossible to fully make out, smoky pale figures moved in the darkness. The howling that they had thought was the wind was coming softly from down there, and both dragonesses knew that it wasn't wind making that noise.

There was a loud shriek from somewhere below them, followed by high pitched screaming. The two girls glanced at each other and flew higher at the same time. The _things_ were moving frantically now, chattering and howling below them. Some of them seemed to be fighting each other. The entire fortress was encircled by the moving shrouded shapes.

Cynder and Ember stopped and hovered.

"What are they?" Ember asked fearfully.

Cynder hesitated. "I think… that they're apes."

"Apes? But the apes are dead." Ember looked down nervously. "Are they… ghosts?"

"I don't know what they are, but I'm sure that they're dark magic creatures, and I don't want to go anywhere near them."

Ember nodded, thinking this was a very reasonable viewpoint.

"I agree. Do you think that they're here for Malefor?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe they want revenge, or maybe they're still serving him even now."

"They might be guarding it, but we still need to get inside the fortress. Any ideas?"

"Two. Either we fly up to the top of the fortress and look for a way inside from there, or we go to the doors and get in from the lower floors."

"Umm… which place is Spyro more likely to be?"

"Definitely on the lower floors. There are dungeons and cells down there which would be more than enough to hold him."

Cynder and Ember both paused, imagining Spyro sitting alone in a miserable barred cell.

"We had better go."

* * *

Spyro and Malefor stood opposite each other on the tower platform of the fortress. Malefor started pacing back and forth, Spyro watched him patiently.

"Have you thought more about our conversation from yesterday?" Malefor asked the younger dragon.

"A little bit." Spyro said.

"And have you come up with any theories about why there are so few dragons?"

"That's not the part I did most thinking about." Spyro said.

"Then what were you thinking about?"

"Who's the… ah… informant, who's working with you."

"You didn't say traitor." Malefor observed.

"No." Spyro shook his head. "But the way that you defended them yesterday gave me clues as to who it might be. You said "They're as much a friend to you as they are to me". It was an interesting comment." Spyro looked rather pleased with himself.

Malefor waited for him to continue.

"And they need to be someone powerful, in a position of authority. So it can't just be any random dragon or mole in the city. So I think that it's probably someone like the Guardian dragons, or one of my close friends."

"And?" Malefor asked.

"Is it Imperia?"

"The newest member of the guardians." Malefor said.

"I feel sort of bad for suspecting her." Spyro admitted. "But she's my only possibility."

"It's Imperia." Malefor confirmed.

Spyro sighed. "Does Cynder know?"

"I don't believe so. Imperia hasn't reported anything wrong."

"So you can talk to her?"

"Yes."

"Could you please give her a message, from me?"

"Certainly."

"Tell her that she should tell Cynder the truth. Obviously she shouldn't do it yet, if it will ruin her plans or anything, but she should do it soon. Tell her I know she loves Cynder, and that Cynder loves her too."

Malefor nodded thoughtfully. "It would be a bad move for me to pass on that message, but I am nevertheless going to do it." He looked at Spyro. "I hope that you're right. It would break Imperia's heart if she told Cynder the truth and was hated for it. I don't want to see either of them hurt like that."

"I don't want that either."

"I'll give her your message tonight." Malefor said. "We'll discuss it further tomorrow, and she'll undoubtedly have a reply to give you."

"Thanks." Spyro said.

"Now, we were discussing why dragons are not as numerous as we ought to be, considering our longevity. Have you thought of anything?"

"Sort of. I thought that maybe it was because the purple dragons and black dragons come along every millennium or so and decimate the dragon population a few times. That would decrease our numbers a great deal."

Malefor laughed. "You and I are just glorified natural disasters? We're nothing more than living extinction events."

Spyro shrugged, but felt slightly defensive. "It sounds bad when you put it that way, but it was one of my guesses."

"It was a good guess, and not necessarily wrong." Malefor said. "But what else did you have?"

"We've been at war constantly."

"Indeed."

"Maybe dragons just weren't _meant_ to live forever? And it's just a mistake that we can. …and… we…" Spyro frowned, an idea started to form in the back of his mind. "We're not… we're not allowed to live forever… _That's_ why we're being stopped?"

"And…" Malefor paused for dramatic effect, sensing that Spyro was close to reaching the same conclusion he had reached so long ago. "Who's stopping us?"

Spyro stared at him in shock for several seconds.

"Who could stop us from living forever?" He asked himself. "Someone, or something, capable of manipulating the purple and black dragons into causing destruction. Capable of starting all of these squabbles and wars to keep us in check, until another decimation can occur."

"Someone who, to use your own words from a moment ago, thinks that dragon's aren't _meant_ to live forever?"

"You're suggesting it's the Dragon Ancestors?"

Malefor nodded. "It's the most logical conclusion I can reach."

Spyro was too confused to reply. The ramifications of the idea that the gods themselves were not only real, but were oppressing the race of dragons, were… were… Spyro didn't even know what they were.

From over the edge of the platform a skeletal creature emerged. Spyro had seen it from a distance before, but this was his first time seeing the leader of Malefor's armies up close. He stared at the thing; it glanced at him for a moment before looking at Malefor.

The creature looked even more monstrous now that Spyro could see it clearly. Its bones were made of chalky white stone and it was unnaturally thin. Its body was cracked and seemed damaged, and heat glowed dully from within its core. Its wings didn't rest naturally on its body, they looked as if they had been grafted onto its back and they dragged behind it at it moved.

It bowed to Malefor. He inclined his head to it in return.

"General."

"Malefor."

Spyro had not really expected the thing to be able to speak, and he was somewhat startled when he understood it. He watched, curious.

The General looked at him again, and then spoke briefly to Malefor.

"We have visitors. I advise you to deal with them personally."

"Have you identified them?" Malefor asked curiously.

Spyro's thoughts immediately went to Cynder. Was she the one who was here? It would make sense if she was currently fighting her way into the fortress that the General would come to Malefor and ask for help. It was unlikely that anything weaker than Malefor could hope to stop the black dragoness from getting to him.

The General nodded briefly. "We have identified them." It glanced at Spyro. Malefor caught the glance.

"Speak freely in front of Spyro. I'd like him to know who is here. I assume that they are dragons here to save him?"

"I have not speculated about their motives. The dragons are Cynder and Ember, of Warfang."

Malefor laughed. "Yes, they'll be here to save him. I'll go and meet them right away. I wonder how they found us… Frankly I hadn't expected Cynder to guess we were here so quickly, although I knew that a few Warfang dragons might decide to check all of my old homes." He looked back to Spyro. "Excuse me for a few minutes."

"You won't hurt them, will you?" Spyro asked.

"I swear that I will not hurt either of them." Malefor said. He walked to the edge of the platform.

"Malefor!" Spyro called out. "What are you planning to do, if the Ancestors are causing dragons to constantly be at war?"

"I plan to make them stop interfering. And if I have to, then I shall kill them."

"How sure are you that it really is the Ancestors doing this?"

"Not sure at all." Malefor admitted. Then he stepped off the platform and disappeared.

Spyro sat back down again, his chains clinking softly, and thought. The General stood beside him; it too seemed be thinking.

There was silence for a few moments.

"His views are extreme." The General said. Spyro jumped, he had almost forgotten the thing was there.

"Yes?" He replied cautiously.

"I think he needs to be limited. For the good of this world, and for his own good too."

Spyro stared at the pale creature as if it had just gown a second head.

"Are… are you allowed to say that?"

"Yes. I have free will. I have the ability to question him."

"Ok… then why serve him?"

"Because I believe he is trying to do the right thing."

* * *

Cynder and Ember had made their way into the fortress surprisingly easily. There had been a landing area which was positioned just above the level of the crystal forest. The two of them had touched down and hurried through the door, closing it behind them. They found themselves in a corridor of dark, polished stone.

As they began to slink down the corridor they heard something scratching at the door they had just come through. Cynder shivered; glad that they hadn't dawdled while they had been out in the open.

The two of them found a magnificent spiral staircase. The steps alternated between white and jet black marble, and a rich purple carpet covered the central portion of the stairs. The place was still and silent. Ember and Cynder glanced at each other, deciding if they should take the staircase upwards, or if they should go down.

Cynder tried to remember the layout of her fortress. It did belong to her; after all, she should still have some memory of how to get around it.

Unfortunately she didn't. Cynder had no idea where to go, so she just chose a direction at random and led Ember up the stairs.

They emerged in a high-ceilinged room which had couches in it and a nice feeling rug below their paws. The colour scheme of black, purple and white was continued in this room. It was quite tastefully decorated, which surprised Cynder somewhat.

"I don't know what I thought it would be like in here, but I hadn't expected this." Cynder said.

"It looks good in here." Ember said. "It's like a luxurious palace." The pink dragoness felt like giggling. She wasn't sure why she wanted to laugh; probably it was because she was so nervous. She bit her tongue gently to restrain herself.

The girls wandered through two more pleasant rooms before they arrived at something important. The chamber they entered was massive, and the ceiling was far, far higher than in any of the rooms before it.

In the centre of the room was a pedestal, and on the pedestal was a purple crystal, about the size of a dragon's front paw.

Cynder and Ember approached it cautiously, not sure what to expect. Cynder very slowly reached out with her paw.

"Take care with that. It's one of the most valuable objects in the entire world."

Cynder instantly whirled around, ready to attack. Malefor was standing by the exit to the room. She rapidly stepped forwards, spreading her wings to shield Ember and getting into a fighting stance.

Ember reacted much more slowly, she hadn't recognised Malefor's voice as soon as she'd heard it, so she wasn't startled instantly. By the time she'd torn her eyes away from the purple crystal Cynder had already moved to protect her.

Malefor stepped forwards, circling away from the exit in a deliberate attempt to seem less threatening. "You weren't going to break it. It's not that fragile. When the Artisans create something they create it to last."

Cynder watched him warily. "Where is Spyro?"

"He's here. I swore to him that I would not harm you, I swore that about… two minutes ago." Malefor smiled. "He's fine, and I had no intention of harming you anyway. I saved your life, Ember, and you have nothing to fear while you're here."

"What are you doing with him?" Cynder hissed.

Malefor sighed. "If I tell you then will you stop being so suspicious of me?"

Cynder didn't respond.

"An answer for an answer then… I'll tell you exactly what I've done to Spyro, if you tell me how you found us. I don't believe its pure luck that you two came here."

Cynder reluctantly nodded.

Malefor sat down. "I'm going to do to Spyro exactly what he once did for you. I'll send him to Convexity, from which he has no hope of escaping, and then I'll destroy his dark side and free him."

Ember looked confused, but she was too nervous to say anything.

"At the moment he's restrained, but not in pain or discomfort. All I've done to him so far is talk to him."

"About what?" Cynder looked mistrustful.

"About philosophy, and about magic." Malefor said. "Now, how did you find us?"

"Imperia." Cynder said.

"Imperia?" Malefor looked rather surprised. "What do you mean Imperia?"

"I mean she confessed." Cynder said, trying not to show pain in her voice. "She told us what she'd done, she told us she was serving you, and she told me where to find you."

"Did she?" Malefor mused. "I've heard nothing of this from her."

"And have you talked to her recently?" Cynder asked, she was being sarcastic, but Malefor answered the question.

"We communicate. I last 'talked' to her on the night that she returned to Warfang, after young Spark died."

"By then she was a prisoner." Cynder growled.

"She told me nothing of that."

"So she lied to you too."

Malefor nodded. "Apparently so…" He examined his claws thoughtfully for a minute, and then he looked back to Cynder and Ember.

"Unfortunately I can't have you two running around my home and causing chaos. Unstable elements such as yourselves have a tendency to ruin carefully constructed plans. Allow me to escort you to a guestroom. You won't be allowed to leave until tomorrow, tomorrow evening at the latest, but I'll ensure you have food, comfort, and anything else you require." Malefor beckoned the two of them before walking out through the door.

Cynder and Ember reluctantly followed, not seeing many other options.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!  
**

 **-4Dragons**


	31. Playing Nice

**I've been having fun doing a review trade with Soulfire72, it's a really good way to get feedback on your story from a fellow writer. Personally my favourite thing about trading reviews is that it gives a good reason to write thoughtful and considered reviews. Those are the types of reviews I love best, so if anyone is interested in doing such a trade with me then please do contact me.**

 **I've re-drawn my picture of Imperia and put her on Deviantart, you can find me there as 'Always4Dragons', I wanted to mention that here because this chapter involves Imperia. For the start of this chapter I once again suggest Cynder's song (Bleeding Out, by Imagine Dragons) and Ember's song (For Those Who Wait, by Fireflight). These two were quite fun to write together.  
**

 **For Imperia's scene I chose Angel With A Shotgun, by The Cab. The song is moving, and matches with Imperia perfectly.**

 **Story now:**

* * *

Cynder and Ember were escorted to another pleasant spacious room. There certainly seemed to be a lot of nice rooms. Then again it _was_ a palace, and such things were to be expected from palaces. The purple dragon left them there, closing the door behind him with a soft click.

Ember and Cynder looked around the room; it was a large circular chamber with a high ceiling. There were no windows, and only one other door. Quick exploration showed this door to be a bathroom with a very large bath. The bed too was very large, there was only one bed, but two adult dragons, or even three, could easily sleep in it without intruding on the space of the others.

Cynder didn't see any easy means of escaping the room, so she reluctantly went to the bed and lay down on it. Ember walked around the circular walls of the room for a few laps.

As Cynder looked around the room she recognised Imperia's style. In fact the whole fortress, now she thought about it, looked as if it had been decorated by the silver dragoness.

It was small touches, like putting the bed near the wall and opposite the door, the luscious carpet and the occasional bookshelf, which convinced Cynder that her friend had been here before.

Cynder frowned. Were they still friends? Had she and Imperia even been friends to begin with? Or had that always been something more than a simple friendship? She sighed. All she wanted was to sit down with Spyro and Imperia and to just talk and relax. That was all she wanted right now.

Ember circled the room for a third time before giving up. Apparently the room was still round. The pink dragoness saw Cynder looking melancholy and walked over to her.

Ember recalled how Cynder had immediately leapt in front of her defensively when Malefor had found them, and acting on instinct she put a comforting wing over the black dragoness, lying down on the bed right next to her.

"What are you thinking?" Ember asked.

"I was thinking about Imperia." Cynder admitted. "I can still hardly believe that she'd serve Malefor. But she must have been with him for ages; this whole place seems to have been designed by her."

Ember frowned. "When you say Imperia is 'with' Malefor…"

"I don't think it's in that way. Besides Imperia is basically mates with Volteer and Flare." Cynder smiled slightly. "And the use of purple is a bit of a tease. It's one of her favourite colours, but she's using it here at least partly to make fun of Malefor. It'd appeal to her sense of humour to surround the purple dragon with his own colour. I don't think she'd do that if she was with him as some sort of… sex slave, or whatever."

Ember nodded. "Sorry."

Cynder narrowed her eyes, looking at Ember. "And while we're on that subject, Malefor is no rapist, and he never did anything to me." Cynder looked at Ember, the pink dragoness looked away.

"I'm sorry."

Cynder felt bad immediately. She waited a few seconds before speaking again.

"I shouldn't have said that accusingly. I really want us to be friends." Cynder sighed and rested her head on her paws. Ember's wing squeezed her gently. As much as she'd disliked it when dragons assumed she'd been kept by Malefor for that reason it was far from the worst thing that they'd thought about her. She didn't feel right about getting even with Ember about that insult.

"It's ok, Cynder. It's not your fault."

The two girls spent a minute in silence, and then Cynder leant across and whispered to Ember.

"Ember I'm really sorry, but I think I can get out of this room alone, and I want to save Spyro."

Ember nodded and whispered back. "I'm no great fighter, you go and I'll stay here and cover for you. I can lock myself in the bathroom and pretend we're both in there if someone comes to check on us."

Cynder blinked. She hadn't thought of that. "Would… would you really do that?"

"It's the best way I can think of helping." Ember said. "It may not fool them for long, but I'll do my best."

"Wow… um… thank you, Ember." Cynder got up gracefully, yet suddenly feeling very awkward. "I sort of expected you to be difficult and not want me to leave without you."

Ember blushed, looking away. "No. I know that I'd just slow you down, at least this way I'm not totally useless. Just… don't forget about me, ok?"

"I swear I won't." Cynder said.

Internally she was stunned. She hadn't even thought about how scared Ember would be about not being retrieved after, _if_ , Cynder saved Spyro. She tried to put herself in Ember's position and found that she simply couldn't. She wasn't able to picture herself trusting someone to come back for her after saving Spyro.

Cynder looked at Ember; her mind was struggling to put her thoughts into a coherent order.

"I'll be back, Ember."

Cynder walked across to the door, there was a tiny gap underneath it; about enough space to slide a note under the door. She looked carefully at the door; there were magic seals sketched upon it. Imperia had taught Cynder the basics of symbols, and Cynder knew enough to know that while the door was very well protected indeed, there would be nothing harmful about trying to get through it and failing. It had no malicious symbols and no destructive power. It was designed only to be impassable.

It probably wasn't impassable.

Cynder shrouded her body in shadow. Ember watched with complete fascination as the other dragoness shaped cloud of darkness billowed under and around the door. Ember watched, awed, until the smoky tip of what was probably Cynder's tail slithered out of view, leaving her alone in the room. The pink dragoness looked around, deciding what to do next; then she got up from the bed and got to work.

* * *

On the other side of the door was a stairway, it had steps leading both up and down. Considering the circular room it was likely they were in the lower part of one of the towers of the fortress. Malefor had led them up several staircases, so they were probably somewhere on the middle floors.

Cynder scanned the staircase for threats first, and then she gathered her shadows and returned to a physical form. She touched down on the ground; far more cautious this time then she had been before. She padded down the staircase, head low and every sense alert for danger. Her wind expanded out around her, searching the corridors for any shape that should not have been there.

She crossed several rooms silently, but encountered nothing.

It would be too slow for her to search the entire castle like this, and the risk of encountering Malefor would be too high. She needed to work out where she should-

"I knew I'd see some form of escape attempt."

Dammit…

Cynder growled and straightened up. Her hearing, sight, keen sense of smell and the sensation of her wind magic had all completely failed to see Malefor coming, and she didn't even know how, which was annoying. She also didn't know where exactly he was, which was even more annoying.

Cynder looked around, seeing Malefor standing at the top of a broad staircase. The purple dragon descended, looking amused.

Cynder found that she couldn't sense him with her wind magic; it was as if he wasn't there.

"What? How?" She was astonished. Her mind worked rapidly, and managed to piece together some of the puzzle. She glared at Malefor. "You're just a lightning copy! I didn't detect you because you have no mass."

"Correct." The copy nodded, looking pleased. "In combat this ability might not fool you anymore, but it can still sneak up on you undetected."

"How are you speaking?" Cynder asked cautiously.

"A little trick I learned from the Dark Master." The copy stepped aside, revealing a dark purple crystal hanging in the air _inside_ where the copy had been standing. The voice of Malefor radiated from the crystal, and within it was shown a gleaming purple eye. "This magic projection also has no mass, and can be freely moved around. It allows me to see whatever is in front of it and also lets me speak through it."

"The Dark Master used that to send a message to all of Warfang, just after he summoned the Destroyer." Cynder said, remembering.

"Indeed. But I found many more uses for this ability than he did. Using it in tandem with my lightning clone gives me a nearly flawless ability to duplicate myself."

"But it can't attack." Cynder said. She had been electrocuted by one of these clones before, but against any dragon who knew what they were dealing with it wouldn't be a great threat.

"No. It's a distraction. While you've been focused on this image and voice…" The magic projections vanished, and Malefor spoke from the far side of the room.

"I have trapped you."

Cynder had been in a bad mood before, but now she was even more irritated. She used wind to confirm that the Malefor now walking towards her was the real one, and it seemed to be, unless he had found yet another way to fool her senses.

Walls of energy had sprung up around the two of them, activated by several orcs that Cynder had also failed to spot. She had been distracted and outplayed, again.

Malefor walked past her, back towards the room she had only just escaped.

"I take it you escaped with shadow magic? I should have thought of that before I left you there, but it completely slipped my mind until about a minute after I had closed the door. I considered going back and adding more protection to the door, but I was curious as to what you would do. How is Ember?"

Cynder followed him, behind her the energy field closed in, stopping her from running.

"Ember's fine. She let me go."

"Really?" Malefor looked interested. "And what was she expecting to happen when I came to bring you food this afternoon?"

"She planned to shut herself in the bathroom and pretend we were both in there." Cynder admitted reluctantly. Malefor laughed.

"How interesting." The energy field closed in around Cynder, forcing her to stop walking. Malefor smiled. "I'm curious to see this. I'll be back in a few minutes."

The purple dragon walked away before Cynder could even hiss at him. She paced back and forth in her little prison, utterly frustrated and feeling more than a little bit concerned for Ember's safety.

Cynder spat poison at the energy field, but it just hovered in the air, useless. She tapped the field with her tail blade; it gave her an unsettling tingling feeling. Eventually she just sat down and waited.

True to his word Malefor returned after only a few minutes. He noticed the poison Cynder had spat, but didn't comment on it.

"I can see why you chose to bring that young lady. She is quite a remarkable dragoness." Malefor said.

The energy field opened up and Malefor escorted a very confused Cynder back to her room. He added an energy field identical to the one Cynder had been trapped in to the door, and then he left her there with Ember.

Ember was sitting with her backside pushed hard against the bathroom door, looking both petrified and confused. She saw Cynder enter the room and her expression turned to a combination of relief and horror.

"Y-you were caught!?"

Cynder nodded, still stunned by Malefor's comment. "How… what did you say to him?"

Ember shrugged. "I h-have no idea."

"Wow."

Ember relaxed a bit, distracted by Cynder's reaction. She stopped pressing herself against the door. "What?"

Cynder laughed slightly. "Malefor said to me, and I quote: 'I can see why you chose that young lady, she's a remarkable dragoness.'"

Ember couldn't help but blush. "He thought you _chose_ to bring me?"

Cynder nodded.

Ember giggled, still slightly in shock. "He thought you chose to bring me!"

Cynder suddenly realised how tense she had been since they had been caught and put in this room. She breathed out deeply, relaxing slightly as she did so. Watching Ember giggle was oddly funny.

The pink dragoness had to be having a reaction to stress; Volteer had mentioned such things once before, while he'd been chattering about random subjects.

She laughed slightly, Ember's eyes met hers, and the pink dragoness snorted and looked away, trying to control herself, but failing.

Within a minute both dragonesses had collapsed on the floor, laughing hysterically.

* * *

Imperia had visitors. She put her book down and rolled off the bed, coming to the front of her cell. There were several dragons; it had to be the guardians coming to see her.

She was right. Terrador, Cyril, Flare and Volteer emerged from the stairway and came to stand in front of her.

Imperia smiled brightly to them, and got three faint smiles returned. That was a good start. She sat down, bowing gracefully and respectfully as she did so, and waited for her fellow guardians to speak.

Terrador took the lead.

"How are you, Imperia?"

His voice had concern. Imperia met his gaze, allowing some of her gratitude to show in her eyes.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking. And thanks for letting me have some books; it was rather boring here without them. The cell is ok, I'm not uncomfortable."

Flare spoke up. "I notice that the cell bars are scratched."

Imperia nodded, smiling playfully at Flare. "I couldn't force my way out of this chain, but I thought it would be such a waste for me to be the first guardian dragon ever to be imprisoned down here without at least trying to escape."

"What did you do?" Flare asked, amused but not surprised by Imperia's reply.

"Well I tried to cut the bars with wind, but they were too strong. I tried to pick the lock, but I couldn't. Finally I tried to ram the door down, which was completely silly." Imperia grinned.

Volteer raised a paw. "Actually I don't think you were the first Guardian dragon to be imprisoned, trapped, detained or… ah… captured here. Thoran, the lighting guardian before me, he was a captive down here, I believe."

"Technically he was never locked in a cell." Cyril said briefly. "He escaped before he was even imprisoned."

"How inconsiderate of him." Imperia commented.

Terrador quickly put the conversation back on topic.

"Cynder has not returned, and we've also been informed that Ember never made it back from Shattershelf. Lady Asha swears that Ember left shortly after the rest of the Warfang dragons, and I believe her, but Ember never arrived here. We don't know where she is. Imperia, are you willing to tell us the information you told Cynder?"

"I talked to Cynder while we were by Ember's bedside, she may have been conscious. It's not impossible that they're travelling together. And I'd like to hope that they'll be forced to work together. They'll have to put aside their enmity and maybe even become friends."

Cyril scowled. "It does not matter if they become friends; I would rather see them alive and hating each other then as two dead companions. Cynder may be the only one capable of stopping Malefor, and you sent her straight off to him, she could easily be walking into a trap."

Imperia looked hurt. "Cyril please, I don't want them in danger any more then you do, but you don't have all the facts. Malefor won't hurt them, I can guarantee it."

"Speaking of Malefor…" Terrador said. "I'll take your word about that for now, and assume he is _unlikely_ to harm Ember or Cynder. I'll also respect your decision to not tell us where he is. But there is more information we need."

"I'll tell you everything that I can." Imperia said.

"Does Malefor know that you've betrayed him? Are you in danger from him now?"

Imperia laughed. "I'm in no danger from Malefor, so that's a simple question to answer. As for the other, well, I didn't _tell_ him about what's happened, in fact I told him that everything was fine, but he could easily have figured it out by now; especially if Cynder, Ember, or both, have turned up on his doorstep uninvited." Imperia smiled at the thought. "It's safest to assume that Malefor knows everything. Always assume he knows everything."

The other guardians shared a glance, unsettled by that comment. Imperia didn't seem to notice the effect she'd had on them.

"Oh, and could we please stop using conjugations of the verb betray? I didn't betray Malefor; I just… ah… did something that he… wouldn't entirely want me to do."

"Betray: to expose one's own side to danger, nominally done by giving information to an enemy." Volteer spoke up helpfully.

"Volteer! You're not helping." Imperia glared at the lightning dragon for a moment, but then she giggled. "Aww… I just can't make myself mad at you."

Cyril coughed. "Now is not the time for flirting."

"Every time is a time for flirting." Imperia responded immediately.

"So you're not in danger from Malefor?" Terrador asked, before an argument could develop.

"No, I am not." Imperia giggled. "Any other urgent questions?"

"Have you now decided to tell us where Malefor, Spyro, Cynder and presumably Ember currently are?" Flare asked.

"Sorry dear, but no. I haven't decided to tell you that in the minute it's been since I was last asked."

"I didn't think you would." Flare said. Imperia shrugged. Flare sighed. "We could make you tell us."

"That sounds like it could be kind of fun actually, especially if you did that personally. But please don't. I'd really rather not say."

"We won't force her to tell us anything." Terrador stated. "It's your turn then, Imperia. What do you want to tell us?"

"Oh lots of things." Imperia winked at Terrador. "But I assume that what you want at the moment is to know about my association with Malefor?"

"Indeed." Terrador said. "And what you tell us now will help us decide what to do with you later."

Imperia nodded, smiling. "Of course." She sat down, tapping her claws thoughtfully. "Now… where do I start?"

"From the start." Cyril said, looking unamused.

"As you wish." Imperia said. She took a pose that she thought felt suitable for storytelling.

* * *

"I was born in Warfang a bit over a hundred years ago, and spent my childhood here, but once I was old enough my father sent my sister and I off to a nameless little wind dragon settlement, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, hidden among the sand dunes on the outskirts of fire territory. The wind dragons of the desert are masterful teachers, and most young wind dragons go there to learn for several years."

She sighed.

"We were there at the wrong time. As you know the ice and fire dragons have always been opposed, and there were regular skirmishes and raids taking place. Because the wind dragons aren't technically under fire dragon rule, they had thought that our place was safe." She shrugged. "It wasn't. In the event of war the wind dragons would invariably side with the fire dragons, so that made us an enemy."

Imperia saw Terrador nod gravely, she continued.

"Ice dragons don't get far in fire territory, so they hired other dragons to infiltrate our home. Mercenaries, and exiles from distant places. I liked them when they first came in, they were exotic and interesting and they weren't wind dragons, I wanted to hear their stories. I didn't know who they were. Then once there were about fifty dragons gathered they just… well, they killed practically everyone." Imperia looked sad.

"My sister and I were kept alive, and we were… ah… prisoners… for about a year. It felt like ten." Imperia closed her eyes, wishing away the memories. She understood just how Cynder felt when she recalled things she would rather forget. "Eventually one of the leaders of the mercenaries had an argument with his friend, and it became a fight. We were able to escape and run away in the confusion, and we came all the way back to Warfang."

Volteer nodded sadly. He had heard that part of the story before, and it still upset him to hear it. He knew Imperia didn't like to dwell on what had been done to her by those dragons, but she dealt with it admirably. "That's when we met." He said.

Imperia's brilliant smile returned as soon as she glanced at him. "Yes indeed. That's when we met. My sister… well… she was changed by what had happened to us. So was I, but I think that I was changed in sort of a good way. I chose to dedicate my life towards helping others; I never want anyone else to go through anything like I did. There were two obvious ways I could achieve my goal. Become strong, and get authority."

Imperia shrugged and stretched her wings.

"Ignitus was informed when my sister and I arrived in Warfang, tired and weak. He arranged accommodation for us as easily as I can flick my tail, everyone did what he said, and his voice and his manner and his smile were just so… so comforting…" Imperia closed her eyes, a tear rolled down her cheek and she absently licked it away.

"By the next morning I had decided, beyond any doubt, that I had to become a guardian. When the guardians returned to their temple I went with them." Imperia opened her eyes, smiling proudly.

Cyril nodded, slightly impatient. "And you now are one. Which is, of course, remarkable. But none of this has anything to do with Malefor. Although I do finally understand a bit more about you and your insistence on training, eating and sleeping in the dragon temple like the guardians in training did."

Imperia giggled. "I'd like to think I was cute. And Ignitus and Terrador were very supportive of me. Indeed even you were nice, Cyril, back all those years ago when I was young and I respected you as my elder."

Cyril didn't deign to respond to that. Imperia gave him a teasing smile before continuing.

"My hanging around with the guardians was, of course, what brought me into contact with Volteer and Flare." Imperia looked adoringly at the two dragons she had just named. Volteer blushed and shuffled back slightly. Flare merely tilted her head. "I wanted to get to know them a bit, and of course we got along very well indeed."

Terrador unexpectedly chuckled. Imperia looked at him, surprised.

"Just a funny memory involving you." Terrador said, waving his paw to dismiss his comment. "Please continue. I assume you're getting to the part with Malefor sometime today?"

Imperia scowled and laughed. "Yes, yes, I'm getting there." She glanced back at Volteer. "I should talk about you and your adorable stutter and embarrass you further, but that would be mean, wouldn't it? Still if I got Terrador to chuckle again then it would all be worth it."

Terrador laughed. "Imperia, focus."

"Sorry…" Imperia smiled. Even Cyril was looking at her with some fondness. This was going just as well as she had hoped. "Well I guess the bit with Malefor started when I first asked Ignitus if I could be the wind Guardian. I'd been living at the temple for several years, and I'd trained with Flare and Volteer all the time. He must have known what I wanted, but when I went to him and asked he told me no and wasn't even able to offer me a good reason as to why not."

Terrador went to speak, but Imperia spoke before he could.

"Oh he came up with reasons eventually, and he tried his best to let me down gently. 'There have always been four Guardians' 'Many traditions seem unusual to us now, but they're all a part of our history and should be honoured' 'Such changes should be made with caution, there is ancient magic surrounding the position of being Guardian, and that magic may not allow wind dragons.' As well as a few more reasons I have forgotten now."

Terrador nodded. He had been going to defend Ignitus' perspective, but Imperia was telling her story with fairness to the previous fire Guardian, and she spoke accurately as far as he could tell.

"I told him I understood. And I did understand, but that didn't mean I liked it. So I started trying to counter each of his reasons. Firstly by demonstrating that the rules of the Guardians never expressly said that there were only four, merely that four guardians have to remain together, and can only divide under certain circumstances."

"Which is true." Volteer said. "You made me read over those rules too."

Imperia nodded. "You agreed with me, so I went to you for help with a lot of my research. But some things I had to keep hidden. I'm sorry."

Flare smiled. "But your main argument came from Malefor."

The other three unimprisoned guardians all looked at her, surprised and confused. Imperia laughed.

"I take it that you've already put the next part of the story together?"

"I did that years ago." Flare said.

Imperia responded with a smile of her own. "Go on then."

"You were able to counter all reasons _against_ you being the wind guardian, but you never had a really good reason for why there _should_ be a wind guardian. Volteer and I helped you try to find reasons, at first, but after a while you began to do most of that on your own. While you had Volteer and myself looking for leads; you were already following up on the one that had caught your interest."

"Malefor's origin story." Imperia said, grinning. "Oh, you clever girl…"

"That means a great deal, from you." Flare said.

"I'm still ah… confused? Puzzled. Unsure." Volteer said. "What precisely did I miss, and how exactly did I miss it?"

Imperia gazed at Flare. "Since when did you suspect me?"

Flare spun her tail. "For years."

Imperia giggled. "Well done. Although I guessed you might have suspected me."

"And I sometimes wondered if you knew that I knew." Flare said with a hint of playful amusement.

"Let's not get into this discussion too far, or else we'll get seriously side-tracked."

"That has already happened." Cyril said. Imperia nodded.

"Sorry Cyril, can I just have a moment?"

Cyril sighed. "Fine…"

"Flare, I have to ask. Why did you never tell anyone else that I might be working with Malefor?"

Flare looked away, ashamed. "Because I didn't want to believe it."

"It's ok." Imperia pressed her body against the bars, reaching out to Flare with her paw. "Why didn't you want to believe it?"

"Because I thought that you were too good, and too kind, to ever do something like that." Flare tried to keep hurt out of her voice, but Imperia heard it.

"Flare, just hear me out, will you?" Imperia said.

The fire dragoness clasped Imperia's paw for a moment, then she nodded and let go. "You might as well continue the story then."

"We'll talk in private later, ok? Please come and visit me when you decide you want to talk."

Imperia waited a moment until she saw Flare nod, then she stepped away from the bars. She walked back and laid herself down on the bed. "Where was I? Oh yes, Malefor's origin story. Flare was entirely correct. While I had her and Volteer look for leads, I was already chasing one. In Malefor's legend details are rather sketchy, but one thing that is mentioned is that he mastered first his fire element, and then… his wind element."

Imperia paused for dramatic effect.

"That attracted my attention and demanded further investigation. If Malefor had the four Guardian elements, and he also had wind, then was that not evidence for my point of view? So I started looking in the library, even travelling far from the temple and poking around for several weeks in the Warfang underground, while Flare and Volteer had to train."

"You left the temple for several months." Cyril said.

"I came back a few times each week, mostly." Imperia said defensively, and then she smiled. "Why, did you miss me?"

Cyril huffed and muttered something about flirting.

"It turned out that Malefor had left plenty of clues for finding him, and when I followed his trail I eventually found a ritual he had hidden. He needed a way back into the world. There was no point in him locking himself away, oh yes he did that to himself, the Guardians never locked up Malefor. There was no point in him delaying the problem, when he needed time to plan and _solve_ the problem. The ritual was his way to prepare for his eventual release. I learned the ritual, and then I went to the Well of Souls on the eclipse of a Night of Eternal Darkness, many years ago."

"The Well of Souls?" Cyril asked, not immediately recognising the name.

"It's the more literally accurate name for what we'd call the Mountain of Malefor." Volteer told him.

Imperia shivered. "Oh it was spooky and very scary. You see the mountain on that particular night is haunted by evil things that very rarely see a living being, and they are hungry and hateful. I did the ritual and there were spirits and symbols and chanting and a virgin sacrifice an-"

"What!?" Volteer yelped.

"I'm teasing." Imperia was overcome with a fit of giggling.

Volteer looked shocked, Flare and Terrador looked amused, and Cyril looked disapproving.

"Don't worry. There was no virgin sacrifice! Although I did have to use some of my blood, so there was a sacrifice of a kind…" She laughed at the look on Volteer's face. "That was so mean, oh darling I'm sorry."

She took a minute to stop laughing, and then continued.

"It really was quite dramatic, though. I performed the ritual and summoned the spirit of Malefor."

"You could have died!" Volteer exclaimed. "You… you went to _summon_ a dead, evil, vastly powerful dragon, alone?"

"That he would possess my body and come back to burn the world was more of a danger then my dying." Imperia said innocently.

"That's so much better." Volteer replied sarcastically.

"Don't worry too much. I learned the ritual, I didn't just memorise it. I understood what I was doing, and I knew that I was protected from the direct power of the entity I summoned."

"And?" Flare asked, interested despite herself. "How did it go?"

"I accidently summoned the Dark Master." Imperia giggled. "And it did not go well."

"What happened?" Flare asked, fascinated.

"He didn't care who I was. Anything that found the ritual and used it was either a vessel or a meal. He decided to kill me on the spot." She laughed. "Fortunately he wasn't able to. There are two rituals, one was created by the Dark Master and has no protection. The other was made by Malefor and keeps the summoner safe. The consciousness of the Dark Master was brutal, and it attacked me, but he could not harm my body. The pain was incredible, but it was survivable. I staggered out of the circle of symbols I had drawn, his presence left my mind, and I promptly fainted."

Imperia grinned.

"And do you think I learned my lesson and decided not to meddle with things a young dragoness should leave alone?"

Volteer snorted and shook his head. Imperia laughed again.

"I learned my lesson for a whole day. I woke up that next day with a horrible headache, and made my way back to Warfang. I didn't want to return to the dragon temple immediately. I was scared that Ignitus or someone would look at me and see what I had done. Then I'd have gotten in trouble."

Imperia gave the Guardians a sweet smile.

"So I stayed in Warfang that night. That was when I found out that something had happened to my mind."

"You were mental even before you disappeared." Cyril said.

"Touché." Imperia admitted. "But this only affected me while I was asleep. I dreamed of a voice calling me, but I couldn't tell exactly what it was saying. I was afraid it was the Dark Master, so the next day I spent figuring out how to remove it. That night the voice was stronger, as I had feared it would be. But this time I could understand it, and it was apologising."

"And you trusted it?" Terrador looked sceptical.

"Not really. It introduced itself as Malefor, and told me that I had done the ritual too well. I shouldn't have done it on an Eternal Night at the Well of Souls. That was what had caused me to get the Dark Master on the other end of the connection, not Malefor." Imperia laughed. "I didn't trust that they weren't the same individual, just buying time to gather their strength before attempting to kill me again. I figured out how to remove the voice and was prepared to do it but… I hesitated."

"Why?" Terrador asked.

"Because this was the chance I had wanted. I told Malefor that I'd remove him if he didn't assist me, then I questioned him about my problem, and about his elements."

She smiled fondly. "He was extraordinarily helpful. He told me everything I had hoped to learn, and more. You know that even now he has memorised the entire contents of the Warfang library? Books have been lost since his time, and many have been added, but many of the ones he knew are still there even now. He told me about books that could help me with my wind element, and suggested ways I could prove my case to the Guardians."

"So you weren't afraid of him taking control of your body anymore?"

"Not at all." Imperia said. "He taught me a lot about symbols, and about the mental connection we had established. Indeed I trusted him enough that I even strengthened our connection, when I could easily have just cut it." She smiled. "I was curious about him. Malefor is clever, patient, brilliant, and kinder then he would like to admit, and he's also more than a little bit charming." The silver dragoness sighed. "He didn't just interest me, he _awed_ me. He was my friend, and I trusted him completely."

Imperia looked at Volteer, who was looking awkward.

"Should I not be talking about Malefor in this way? Is it too weird?"

"It's… a little bit unsettling, yes."

"Unsettling?" Imperia giggled. "Not a word I'd have chosen, but ok. Anyway we started to talk more, about lots of things. We shared interests, and we shared goals. My desire for a better world was just the same as his, and we could help each other. He taught me about the nature of magic, and about the true nature of dragonkind."

"True nature?" Volteer looked interested.

"Many of Malefor's theories are things that you and I have talked about ourselves. I must say that you both make for excellent conversation."

"Umm… thankyou?" Volteer said. Imperia nodded.

"Malefor and I always have a few extended discussions going on, and it's nice. The true nature of dragons, according to him, is that we are unique among living creatures in several ways. Not only are we capable of accessing magic, but magic is tied to our very existence. Malefor believes that dragons do not age, and do not die."

Volteer raised an eyebrow. "There are a few issues with that idea."

"I know. We've talked about it in the past and we are not discussing those issues right now." Imperia said. "What Malefor and I discuss isn't relevant at the moment."

"Tell us about Malefor's plan." Cyril said.

"His plan? His plan was brilliant, dangerous, and even a little bit mad. I thought suited him perfectly. Naturally I had some suggestions for him, and as soon as he found out I was interested he gave me the most important role. Malefor told me where to find his other servants, the ape king Gaul, as well as the ice dragons Gracious and Seth. We were working with Gaul out of necessity, and I didn't much like him. Gaul thought I served the Dark Master, and he would always address me as 'The Dark Mistress', which I found a little bit disturbing."

"I can imagine." Flare said.

"I don't know if it's the Dark Master who seems like the type who'd go in for that sort of 'mistress' thing, or if it's because of my looks and personality, but it's quite a common assumption about us." Imperia said.

Flare shrugged. Imperia continued.

"Gracious is a decent dragon, but his brother was a little bit… weird. Seth thought I was some sort of reward Malefor was offering them; I think that he imagined me being a sacred priestess, and that he could earn me somehow. Those two thought of Malefor as a god, not as a friend."

"You associated with Gaul, as well as those dragons?" Cyril asked. Imperia nodded.

"Yes." She flicked her wings. "And eventually Malefor showed me his most precious secret. An object you'd recognise. A purple gem, about the size of my paw."

"Malefor's spirit gem, recovered from the centre of the world." Volteer murmured.

"That's not exactly what it is. It's a vessel for a soul, and it was linked to Malefor during the time we had it. It was created by the Artisans, at about the same time as the Dragonslayer was. That crystal is the source of Malefor's immortality."

"And it was right within our grasp." Volteer said. "We had it, right here in Warfang."

"Yes we did. When Malefor told me where to find the crystal I finally knew that he trusted me as much as I trusted him. That crystal was the cornerstone of his plan, and without it he would almost certainly be doomed. I took it home with me and hid it under my bed." Imperia laughed. "I made a few jokes about stealing his heart, but he trusted me with it. I kept it for many years, and Malefor and I became close friends. And then a purple egg and a black egg were laid at the Dragon temple."

Terrador sat up straighter. "And so the story of Spyro and Cynder begins."

* * *

 **-4Dragons**


	32. An Old Beginning

**Three quarters of the songs in this story are on my list of favourites, some of them I didn't discover until I was writing this, (Guide You Home, and Miracle by Shinedown are the two main examples) many of the others just worked so well with the story that I had to include them**

 **Coincidence? I think not.**

 **This chapter: Warriors, by Imagine Dragons.**

* * *

"A purple and a black egg were laid in the year of the dragon, and the board was set. With the addition of two more rare dragons Malefor and I had to re-work our plans yet again. But this time it was even better. The plan was more dangerous, with higher stakes and a bit more complexity, but also with a far, far bigger prize at its end."

Imperia sat up on her bed, gazing at the other four Guardians with excitement.

"It's no coincidence that Spyro, Cynder and Malefor are such extraordinary dragons. Malefor is neutral about fate, but he does not trust in it. I don't necessarily think that fate is real, but I still trust it, to a degree. And I think that Spyro, Cynder and Malefor were fated to be great dragons, they were destined to fight this battle against their darker natures, because that darkness balances their potential. Darkmire and Malefor lost against their darker sides, or came to a standstill at best. But Spyro and Cynder, with the help of Malefor, could be spared that. I believe that this world has always been fundamentally balanced. But this, this is a time when we can stand against our destiny… and win."

Terrador and Cyril looked sceptical. Volteer looked thoughtful. Flare's expression was unreadable. Imperia considered them, smiling.

"If the laying of a purple or black egg is an act of fate, then what does it mean? We don't have very much to work with from before Darkmire. All legends from that time are practically gone. But if you believe that these dragons are born for a purpose… the Darkmire dragon and the Dark Master both existed for destruction. Spyro and Cynder came as saviours. It stands to reason that they keep our world in balance, keep it in a constant state."

Imperia grinned.

"But what if they didn't? What if we took this opportunity, and changed the world? Malefor was supposed to be balanced by Spyro and Cynder, but I'd rather see the three of them join forces. Imagine that world, a world where Malefor, Spyro and Cynder work together. No war could be fought against all three of them; anything they wanted they could do, anything at all. Just imagine, a new age of peace, all of dragonkind united under its three greatest dragons!"

She rose from the bed and prowled back and forth in her cell, practically radiating excitement.

"This is his plan! And it's so beautiful. We're succeeding, do you see? Cynder is freed, Spyro will be saved, and Malefor will teach them everything." She tilted her head smugly. "And _I_ stand to profit from this too. After all I am close to the three of them. Anything I desired could be mine; all I'd need is a sweet smile and a few kind words."

Cyril shook his head. " _That_ is what this has all been about? You're deluded, Imperia, thi-"

"But is she?" Volteer interrupted. "Considering our present state, this isn't an unfeasible goal."

"It's not _about_ how possible it is!" Cyril insisted. "It's, and I can hardly believe I'd get into this argument with _you_ of all dragons, Volteer, but it's a question of morality!" He looked at Imperia. "What you're talking about is fundamentally wrong. You'd change the face of this world by force, but you don't expect there to be consequences?"

"Yes, I do expect there to be consequences." Imperia said sadly. "I wish there weren't, but there would be."

"And yet still you refuse to acknowledge that what you are doing may not be the right thing?" Cyril asked, frustrated. Imperia's enthusiasm switched off instantly, she stepped back.

"Hey, calm down, Cyril. This is Malefor's final goal. Not mine. I'm not quite so ambitious. I don't want to see the world united under three dragons, even dragons as great as Cynder, Spyro and Malefor. I like the world ok as it is, and I'm content with simply nudging it in the right direction."

Cyril paused, confused; Volteer, who had been about to continue arguing with him, also stopped.

"I've talked with Malefor about this. Unfortunately I can't outwit him in a debate of logic. He's ever so slightly cleverer then me." Imperia laughed. "And my argument was the same as yours Cyril, but it's an emotional argument, and Malefor isn't likely to be swayed by 'it doesn't feel morally right'. In this matter I cannot persuade him."

The dragons were silent for almost a minute. Volteer, Flare and Terrador were trying to come to terms with the morality of Malefor's plan. In theory it was the right thing to do, but it wasn't so easy in practice. Cyril had already decided on his opinion, he was thinking about the possible results of Malefor succeeding. Imperia let them think; she herself was trying to decide what to say in order to help the others, and hopefully also to get herself released.

Terrador was the first one to speak. He had learned long ago that the way to deal with something too big to come to terms with was to put it in the back of your mind and focus on something that you could manage, then to come back to the difficult issue later. This had always been his strategy, and it had always kept him sane.

"We still haven't heard the details of this plan. The final result of it we can discuss later, but for now this meeting is about you, Imperia."

Imperia lay belly down on the floor, nodding. "I'll keep telling then."

"We had you, Malefor, The Dark Master, Gaul and the two ice dragons." Flare said helpfully. "And now the eggs of Spyro and Cynder have been laid in the Dragon Temple. Now, you had a plan?"

Flare finished speaking and looked expectantly at Imperia for a moment. Then she realised what she had just said, and her expression turned to horror.

"You told Gaul how to get into the temple, knowing he had orders to destroy all but one of the eggs."

All fondness that had been in the eyes of Terrador, Cyril, Volteer and Flare vanished instantly. Imperia saw it happen, and felt a flood of misery roll through her. She lowered her head.

"Yes."

"All of those baby dragons, dead." Flare said.

Imperia felt tears gathering in her eyes. "Yes…"

"And you were the one who arranged it all?"

"The plan would have worked without raiding the temple. The Dark Master needed an egg, it didn't matter which one. I told Gaul how to get into the temple, and ordered him to get the black egg unharmed. I told him we needed that one, I lied." She looked up at the guardians, her eyes filled with pain.

"I couldn't have stopped what happened! It was the order of the Dark Master, not Malefor. Malefor could have nothing to do with it, I told him I'd look after everything and it would all be ok. I had to do it all myself. The Dark Master ordered all but one egg destroyed. Gaul heard the order. Stopping it would have meant going up against both him and his Dark Master, and then the apes would have fought their way into the temple anyway! Not even Malefor could have protected me if I had spoken out. Gaul thought I served the Dark Master. I… I had to let it happen… I couldn't stop them, and I couldn't betray them until the time was right. We… we wanted all of the eggs to survive, but we just couldn't… It was all I could do to ensure the safety of the black and purple eggs."

She choked back a sob. The other guardians looked at her with a mixture of anger and pity.

"Imperia…" Volteer moved forwards, wanting to comfort her. Terrador put his tail in the way and shook his head. Volteer stepped back. Terrador spoke to Imperia gently.

"In war many sacrifices have to be made. You will be judged fairly. I can see why you did what you did. Now, please continue your story."

Imperia nodded, sniffling. "Sorry…"

The guardians waited as Imperia composed herself. A single tear rolled down her snout. She shook it off.

"We saved the black egg. We saved Cynder. Over the next several years the Dark Master trained her, transforming her into the Terror of the Skies. I could hardly bear to watch that happen. I thought that what I had done telling the Apes about the Dragon Temple would be the end of the horror, but it wasn't. The Dark Master kept Cynder's dark side contained; just as Malefor had known would happen. Malefor was able to exert some degree of influence over Cynder, making her physically unable to kill a purple dragon, and also preventing her from capturing Ignitus until the time was right."

Imperia giggled very slightly. "If you really wanted to be safe from the Terror of the Skies all you actually had to do was paint yourself purple. She wouldn't have been able to kill you even if she tried. I ended up painted purple for a while, it suited me, apparently." She grew serious again.

"The fire dragons split off from their alliance with Gaul, Magmar would not ally with him after hearing about the black egg, and for the first time in history the apes had a civil war. Many went to Shattershelf, many more stayed with Gaul. Then, for the first time, the Terror of the Skies was used as a weapon."

"The first time of many." Terrador said.

"Yes. Many times I watched her get sent out, and come back often covered in blood. I could barely stand it, knowing that there was an innocent girl hidden deep within that monster. Those years were among the worst of my life. Three of the guardians were captured." Imperia looked at Volteer, Cyril and Terrador, blushing.

"And I am really, really, extremely sorry about that… I swear I am."

Volteer looked slightly amused. Terrador and Cyril were not.

Imperia glanced away. "Anyway… uh… then Spyro came back, and it was such a relief. He had gone missing, but we knew he hadn't been killed. Ignitus was meant to raise him, but we all know how well that turned out. We waited for years, and when Spyro returned from living with dragonflies he was everything we had hoped he would be. He grew strong at a prodigal rate, much faster than we had expected, and eventually he went seeking the Terror of the Skies." Imperia sighed. "And he did beautifully. The power of the four guardians had all been drained. I filled a crystal of my own power, because all five elements were needed."

Imperia smiled.

"Further proof that Wind is a guardian element, just in case you wanted it. So all but my crystal were used, and the prison of the Dark Master grew very weak. Then Malefor arranged for Spyro to fight against Cynder, in both her controlled and her unbound form. Spyro defeated Cynder, freeing her from the evils that had controlled her for all of her life."

"How could you have known what she'd be like once she was free?" Volteer asked. "The psychological effects alone… I watched Cynder with great care when she first came back to us, and considering her history I had honestly expected her to be seriously emotionally damaged."

"I never knew for sure. Malefor promised me that she could be saved, and in that I simply had to trust blindly. But he was right. The Cynder we know and love was not consumed by the Dark Master, or the dark aspect of her own nature. She's perfect, and she's happy." Imperia spoke as much to reassure herself as to reassure the others. "What I did to Cynder is my greatest shame. I love her with all of my heart, and I only want her to be happy."

"She was happy." Flare said softly. "When I saw them together in Shattershelf, she was truly happy."

Imperia nodded, once again feeling tearful. "Thank you…"

"Until Malefor tore them apart. Until you told her the truth about yourself."

Imperia wasn't able to look directly at Flare. "Please…"

Flare sighed. "You thought you were doing the right thing. I know."

Imperia began to cry. "That… That was not what I wanted."

"Flare. I understand how you feel." Volteer spoke softly. "And you're not the only one. But please, don't take that hurt out on Imperia now. You two need a chance to talk together, don't let anger control you."

Flare hesitated. "Is… is that what just happened?" She looked genuinely unsure. Volteer looked from her to Imperia. Flare stared. "I shouldn't have said that. Imperia I'm sorry." She looked back at Volteer. "Do I do this often?"

"First time." Volteer said. "Normally your control is perfect."

"Imperia, I'm really sorry… I spoke without thinking."

"No need to apologise." Imperia wiped her eyes, sitting up. "It's not that important."

Terrador considered the situation. "We'll leave you for a while, Imperia. Volteer you're free to stay here if you choose to."

Volteer nodded. Terrador offered Volteer a key and the electric dragon accepted it silently.

Terrador, Cyril and Flare walked up the stairs and away.

* * *

Cynder crawled out from the bed and looked around. She had been woken by the sound of the door opening quietly. Three orcs stepped through, each carrying food. They set it down carefully on the ground.

Cynder focused some of her mana, creating poison, just in case they decided to attack, but the stony creatures didn't seem to have any interest in her at all. In only a few seconds they were leaving again.

Cynder considered going for the door. She could easily take down three orcs, but she decided not to. At the moment she was in a bad position, and she needed more advantage over Malefor before she went for round three. He had outmanoeuvred her and Spyro once, and then trapped her for a second time.

Cynder sat down, and her tail landed on something hard. She looked down and saw she had sat on a pink paw. She smiled and stood up again; then she gently shook the paw.

Ember groaned, buried in the sheets. Cynder felt like talking to the other dragoness, but when Ember seemed reluctant to get up she lay back down and thought instead.

A few minutes later Ember nosed out of the sheets. Her blue eyes blinked at Cynder.

"Hi Cynder." Ember said.

"Good morning, Ember." Cynder replied.

"Is it morning?"

"I don't know, there are no windows but breakfast was just delivered, so I suspect it's somewhere around that time."

"Right." Ember sat up. She pulled her heart tipped tail out from the sheets and went to investigate the food. "What sort of breakfast does Malefor serve?"

Cynder rose to her feet and walked beside Ember. "Not sure. It only arrived a few minutes ago."

"Bread. Meat. Some fruit." Ember looked approving. "Good choices. Oh, and plenty of water." She nodded, satisfied.

Cynder shrugged, she started selecting bits of food to eat. Ember sat down opposite her and the pair of them ate in silence for a few minutes.

Ember eventually stopped eating, licking her lips. "That was nice! I wonder who prepared it. Not orcs, surely?"

"You'll probably be glad to know it wasn't drugged or poisoned." Cynder said, she speared another piece of meat on her claws and put it in her mouth. Ember made a face at the comment.

"I didn't even think about that."

"Don't worry; even if it had been poisoned I could have healed you."

"Do you think Malefor would actually try to poison us?" Ember asked hesitantly.

"I don't know." Cynder said. "I really don't know…"

"He seemed nice enough." Ember said. "He was polite, and he has a pleasant voice."

"I still don't trust him." Cynder said.

"You don't trust easily, do you?" Ember asked.

Cynder shook her head. "Definitely not."

"Hmm…" Ember looked at the wall.

"But I am starting to trust you."

* * *

Volteer unlocked Imperia's cell. He stepped inside and walked straight to the lovely silver dragoness.

"Imperia, how are you?" He wrapped his wing around her comfortingly.

Imperia shuddered as she sobbed again. "Not great… I just… I…"

Volteer hushed her softly, resting a paw on her shoulder. "Take a few minutes. I'm not going anywhere."

Imperia nodded and rested her head against his chest. After a while she giggled.

"This isn't going as well as I had hoped it would."

"What do you mean?" Volteer asked.

"I really hoped I could just have a nice time, finally telling you guys the secret I'd kept from you. I've wanted to tell you everything for so long, but I couldn't. I thought this would be a relief to tell you, and then all of you could understand that nothing has changed between us and we could get along again."

"That may not happen easily." Volteer said.

"Yes, it's not looking great." Imperia sighed. "But I can't wait down here."

"Imperia…"

"Yes?"

"If you ask… then I will let you out. Right now, I'll unlock the chain and we can walk up the stairs together. They might try to stop us, but I could hold off Terrador, Cyril or Flare for long enough for you to escape."

"Oh Volteer… Thank you." Imperia murmured. "But I couldn't ask you to do that."

"That's a relief." Volteer said. "I'd have done it, but I'm glad not to."

"I take it this means you're not mad at me?"

Volteer pulled Imperia closer. "I have no problem with you at all. But the issue of Malefor is a bit more difficult."

"I know…" Imperia said. She nuzzled his scales. "I'm working on it. He's a good dragon at heart."

"So are you feeling better?" Volteer asked, smiling.

"Much better. Thanks for the hug." Imperia laughed. "So you and I are ok?"

"How could we not be?" Volteer chuckled. Imperia purred as she felt his body vibrate.

They lay in silence for a minute, and then Imperia sighed.

"I feel really bad about Flare."

"She feels betrayed. She had reason to suspect you, but she chose not to do anything about it. It's because she cares so much about you that she feels this way, not because she's actually feeling anger towards you."

"Oh, so you've psychoanalysed her?" Imperia asked playfully.

"Not really. I just tried to understand what she's thinking." Volteer said. "But I think that makes my assessment no less accurate."

"I love it when you're smart." Imperia said coyly.

"I'm always smart." Volteer said. "I think. Am I? I don't know, it's difficult to det-"

Imperia kissed him to quiet him. "You are indeed always smart. And you're cute when you babble."

Volteer blushed. Imperia licked his snout.

"So, we have some time alone." Imperia noted. "Would you like a massage?"

"Oh yes please!" Volteer smiled.

* * *

Ember had been astonished by Cynder's words. She didn't respond, but her mind was racing. The Black dragoness wasn't done with her yet though.

"Ember, do you remember when you first woke up, and I was there?"

Ember nodded hesitantly. "Yes?"

"It was just before that when Malefor healed you, but before he did I had come to visit you, and I tried to talk to you. Can you remember any of that?"

Ember shook her head.

Cynder hesitated. "It was a lot easier to say it when I thought you were dying, but what I said then is still true now."

Ember tried to guess where Cynder was going with this conversation, but her mind went blank. "What did you say?"

"What I said… that is… What I'm _saying_ is that I'm really sorry about the way I've treated you. Especially about when you tried to apologise to me and I just made it all worse. I'm sorry, Ember."

Ember couldn't respond at first, so Cynder continued.

"It was right after that when I realised how unfair I had been to you, and I felt just awful. Then… then you saved me, and when I thought you were going to die I was really scared that we wouldn't get a chance… You don't have to forgive me, Ember… I wouldn't blame you if you didn't."

"I do forgive you, Cynder." Ember said immediately. She went straight to Cynder and put her wing around the black dragoness. "I forgive you completely."

Cynder sniffled slightly. She rested her head against Ember's side. "Why did you save me? You must have known Magmar would try to kill you."

"I don't know… It just felt like the right thing to do."

Cynder snorted. "You're courageous, and stubborn. Even when we were enemies I always had to respect that."

"Thanks. I think."

"Was there ever a time when we could have been friends? Before we ended up fighting each other?"

"I think… there were a few days. When I barely even knew your name. I thought you might not be so bad." She made a soft sound of amusement. "Then I started to dislike your arrogance, and the way that you were always around Spyro. I guess in hindsight it's my fault that we weren't friends."

"It's my fault too. I only thought of you as competition, and I wanted to… well…" Cynder trailed off. "If you had been the one to go on adventures with Spyro, and then been connected to him by the chain… I don't know if I'd be like I am now, but if I cared for him that much, and then you were always with him, and if I felt that jealous…" Cynder giggled slightly. "I'd probably have tried to strangle you, or something."

"You _did_ try to strangle me." Ember pointed out. "But that was my fault, I formally challenged you." She smiled at Cynder. "But I forgave you for that too."

Cynder looked startled. Ember blinked.

"Cynder?"

"Yes?"

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just… that's the first time I've ever seen you really smile."

"Oh…" Ember felt a pang of regret. "Sorry."

"Please don't stop. You have a really beautiful smile, Ember."

Ember nodded, her smile returned. It reminded Cynder slightly of Imperia's smile. "Thanks, Cynder."

Cynder smiled back at Ember. "Who cares what chance there was for us to be friends? We're friends now, and that's what counts."

Ember laughed.

"Oh, Ember, I didn't finish up what I wanted to say. There was one other thing I told you while you were dying that I need to tell you now."

Ember nodded. "Ok, what was it?"

"You remember the end result of our fight, and about you having to give up on Spyro?"

"Yes?" Ember looked unsure.

"You can forget it."

* * *

Volteer walked up the steps, smiling to himself. As he emerged back into the open air he found Flare waiting for him.

"How is she?" Flare asked. "You were there for a while."

Volteer smiled. "I think she's ok. You should go and see her."

Flare nodded silently.

"Has Terrador said when we'll be continuing with her questioning?"

"He said we'd continue as soon as you two were finished."

Volteer blushed. "Well shall we go and tell him that we can continue?"

Flare nodded, she casually shot a fireball into the air, where it exploded and hung above them. Terrador arrived only moments later. Volteer raised his eyebrow.

"You prepared?"

"Hope for the best, prepare for the worst." Terrador said. "How is Imperia?"

"She's fine. She'll be ready for us to continue." Volteer said.

Cyril walked up. "Shall we?"

The guardians went back the way Volteer had just come, emerging into the dungeons again to find Imperia lounging on her bed in a rather sexy pose, eyes closed.

"Well you all came back in a hurry. I thought we might be taking a few hours break at least."

She opened her eyes and looked at them playfully, rolling onto her paws and floating up into the air.

"Are you likely to cry again?" Cyril asked.

Imperia laughed. "Oh I make no promises on that count! But I'm willing to continue from where I left off. Volteer comforted me." She threw a wink to the electric dragon, who blushed again.

Imperia hovered gracefully just inside the bars, now looking down at the guardians.

"So Spyro saved Cynder, just as he was meant to, and from then on the plan was supposed to get back on track, with it all being nice and easy. They could take all the time they needed to get to know each other, and become strong. I always hoped they'd become partners, and especially if they were different sexes and could possibly have children. If they had have been friends that would have been fine too, the important thing was that they could work together. Eventually, when they were old enough and strong enough, they would fight against the Dark Master and defeat him. Malefor taught me about magical sigils, and I used my knowledge to begin designing the snake bands. They're some of my best work, far better than this old thing." Imperia gestured to the energy chain which was fastened to her neck. "In time the wind element would be used on Malefor's prison too, and he could be defeated."

"That's not exactly what happened." Volteer noted.

"That's _definitely_ not what happened." Imperia laughed. "No, The Dark Master saw a chance, and he took it. Gaul grabbed my crystal and used it to finish freeing his master, and things rapidly turned to chaos. Malefor had prepared Gracious and Seth to assassinate Gaul, but it was too late, the ape king had done his job. And then Spyro and Cynder got themselves tangled up in the mess before we could sort it out."

"How ironic." Cyril said.

"Yes, it was a bit ironic. And things only got worse. Gaul was killed, but Spyro and Cynder ended up trapped in crystal. My treachery was found out by the apes and I forced to cut all contact with them, Gracious and Seth could only go back to Darkmire's Tomb to wait, and the Dark Master was set loose on the world once again."

"For three years." Terrador said.

"Three scary, desperate years, yes." Imperia agreed. "He knew now that I wasn't on his side, I was no longer protected. If we hadn't have been able to free Spyro and Cynder then I would have probably needed to go up against the Dark Master myself. I would have had Malefor's help and the Dragonslayer… It's hard to tell how that would have gone. Even with Spyro and Cynder together it was close, but they won again, and the Dark Master was ended."

Imperia smiled.

"After that it was all nice. Malefor's crystal was locked away; his body entombed in a cave deep within the earth, the world was saved. Malefor no longer visited me in my dreams and I missed him deeply, but I could finally meet the two beautiful, wonderful dragons who I had watched over for all of their lives."

The guardians didn't respond at first. Each of them was thinking of Spyro and Cynder, and the time just after the downfall of the Dark Master.

"I love them both, and it was such a pleasure to be able to spend time with them." Imperia sighed. "Sure there were a few little problems, like Cynder leaving Warfang, but I arranged for her to come back as soon as I could and I kept regular contact with her while she was away."

"You went travelling every other day it seemed." Flare commented.

"I'd have barely come back to Warfang at all, if it hadn't been for you, Volteer, and my class at the Dragon Academy."

"Glad to be so appreciated." Volteer grumbled.

Imperia laughed.

"So how exactly did Malefor come back?" Volteer asked curiously. "I studied that crystal, but was able to determine very little about its nature before we had it bound in iron and locked up."

"It acts as a magnet, a draw to keep what can arguably be called the spirit from moving on. It bound Malefor's will to this earth, and constantly drew him towards it. The embodiment of Malefor's consciousness was rather spookier then I expected it to be, it resembled a dragon in form, but it was ethereal and didn't seem to be self-aware. It was like a ghost. I helped it take the purple gem, opening the doors and incapacitating the guards, and then it left to go to Darkmire's tomb. Then, on the night when Spyro and Cynder had their date I felt him return, his mind stronger than it had ever been. I put my snake charms back on Spyro and Cynder, and from then on all I needed to do was tell Malefor what was going on."

Imperia curtsied.

"And that is basically everything that's ever happened between me and Malefor."

* * *

Terrador sat before a roaring fire, looking into it as if hoping to see the answer to all of his problems in the flames.

Flare sat beside him, her tail was curled around so that the last metre of it rested within the glowing coals. Occasionally it flicked, as she habitually liked to spin it around her, but she controlled the movement and left her tail where it was. She wasn't looking into the fire; she was gazing instead at Cyril and Volteer.

The four original guardians had left Imperia's cell and gathered in a meeting chamber to decide what was to be done with their newest member.

Terrador and Flare remained in pensive silence while Volteer and Cyril had an unusually civil argument that, for once, did not turn into a battle of insults.

Volteer, of course, wanted Imperia to be set free. Cyril admitted that he wanted the same thing, but he insisted that at the moment he didn't trust her enough to allow it.

"Cyril, if everything she's told us is true and accurate, then would you consider releasing her?"

"Leaving aside that I am obviously already considering releasing her in order for us to have this conversation at all, the answer would be yes. But we have no way to prove large portions of her story, so I'd rather determine her trustworthiness with other means."

"She still behaves exactly like Imperia; if she'd been holding up a pretence for all of this time then I'd expect her to have dropped it now that her cover is blown. That she's still acting like herself makes me think that the Imperia we knew is genuine."

"It'd be impossible to fake being as ridiculous as she is, constantly, for all these years." Cyril admitted.

"My point exactly. But… ah… not precisely in the way that I'd have put it." Volteer said.

"And we also need to keep in mind that she's telling us what we want to know about Malefor." Cyril said.

"Is that increasing her trustworthiness or decreasing it?" Volteer asked warily. "She has effectively betrayed him, even if she'd prefer we didn't use that word."

Cyril hesitated. "Increasing."

Volteer looked across at Flare. "Her intentions seem to be good."

"Terrador, what do you think?" Cyril asked.

The earth Guardian sighed deeply. "In forty eight years I'll have trained my apprentice sufficiently to be allowed to step down as earth guardian. I'd think that I'd like to retire soon after that, and find a nice place to live, somewhere where I don't need to fight in any wars, or decide the fate of the world. I'd like to have a peaceful life for eighty years or so."

Cyril, Flare and Volteer weren't sure what to say to that. They stared at him.

"Seizo is a brilliant and capable young dragon. If he can keep progressing as he has, then he will be a better guardian then I'd ever hoped to train, and I'll be glad to let him take over my position."

He glanced around at the others.

"I can't allow Imperia's release until this crisis is dealt with, but I don't want her held a minute longer than necessary. We also can't trust her opinion of Malefor, as much as I'd like to. We need some way to have influence over him."

"Influence?" Volteer looked doubtful.

"A way to control Malefor. Perhaps not to stop him, but at least to limit him."

"Isn't that what Imperia wanted as well?" Volteer asked. "Some things she said gave me that impression."

"Perhaps." Terrador said wearily.

"You're thinking of using her as a hostage?" Cyril asked doubtfully.

"I wish I could think of a better plan. Seizo could perhaps think of one. We won't do that to Imperia, not unless she agrees to it. But I don't see many other options. Cynder isn't here, and we can't match him in open combat without a dragon time user. We _need_ to be able to control Malefor."

Terrador looked tired as he spoke. He looked at the expressions of the faces of Volteer and Cyril, neither of whom looked happy with his idea.

"I think the probability of that working is extremely limited." Volteer said.

One of the guardians had yet to speak; Terrador knew he needed her opinion too.

"Flare? What do y-?"

He turned, but the fire dragoness was gone.

* * *

 **-4Dragons**


	33. Compromise

**I've been posting once a fortnight for the past several chapters, but I can't promise I'll be able to post on time after this chapter, updates may become slow again...  
** **If you're bored and looking for something to do after you finish this chapter then I can highly reccomend that you check out TvTropes. For any fellow writers having a look is practically a must, it's both entertaining and informative. For anyone who enjoys movies, books, games or any other pop culture taking a look is an incredible feeling. Imagine Wikipedia, but with an article on why there is inevitably going to be a waterfall when characters are being swept downriver.**

 **I'm honoured to say that fanart of this story (my story! I almost squealed in excitement!) has been done by Mattiwia, and I also encourage you to check him out on Deviantart.**

 **Lastly, the song for this chapter:  
For Cynder and Ember: 'One Crowded Hour' by Augie March.  
I had another song for them, but it was making me cry too much. Crowded Hour is an... unusual choice, and I'm interested to hear if you think that it suits. You'll see what I mean if you listen to it. I suggest playing it as their scene starts.**

* * *

Imperia had figured out how to escape in the first five minutes of her imprisonment. In fact she had practically known how to escape before she'd even been locked in her cell. She hadn't tried to escape, as she'd been fairly confident that she'd be free again soon. Now as the conversation had gone by she was less sure.

Imperia had things to do and places to be. The wind dragoness knew it was essential that she get to Concurrent Skies as soon as possible. If Cynder was already there then things could get difficult without Imperia being around to diffuse tension, plus she wanted to ask Cynder for forgiveness again.

Imperia missed the young black dragoness even more then she had expected she would. She'd known there was a risk involved in telling Cynder that she'd been working with Malefor, but she had hoped that they could sort it out without too much difficulty. She wasn't sure exactly why it had hurt Cynder so much to find out that she worked with Malefor, but Imperia had a theory. She desperately wanted to be back with Cynder again. She'd said she loved Cynder, and she meant it with all of her heart.

Imperia was also curious to find out how Ember was going, she hoped that the poor pink dragoness hadn't been too terrified. Imperia had always liked Ember, she sympathised with the girl for not being able to attract much attention from Spyro. Imperia didn't like seeing unhappy romance and she'd been wishing the pink female the best of luck for years now. It had disappointed her to see Cynder and Ember become enemies, although she had been firmly on Cynder's side once it had happened.

Ember was interesting to Imperia, and that she'd gone after Cynder and Spyro all alone was especially interesting. The pink dragoness had apparently shown far more courage in Shattershelf then Imperia would have expected; she hoped that courage wouldn't fail.

Thirdly, she had to admit to herself that she really wanted to meet Malefor in person. She had glimpsed him from a distance before, at the siege of Shattershelf, and the sight had filled her with excitement. But she had never met him face to face and she could hardly wait for the chance.

She paced around the cell for a while, deciding if she should just escape now while she had the chance or if it was better to wait to be let out. Eventually she reached her decision. It was time for a proactive solution.

Imperia removed her choker. She'd been wearing it for about two years now, and once she took it off she felt strangely naked without it. Imperia rubbed her neck, giggling. Her scales were smooth, and it was odd not to have the metal there; but after several seconds it began to feel more natural. The lack of that familiar weight around her neck was unusual, but sort of nice. Maybe she'd put it on again later, it was a nice and stylish piece of metalwork, or perhaps it was time for a change. Red and sliver went well together, she might be able to find a ribbon. Or she could just go around wearing nothing like a normal dragon did. The options were practically endless.

Now that she no longer wore her choker, the energy chain that had been connected to it wasn't holding her trapped in the cell. It was laughably obvious.

Imperia sighed, wondering how the others had missed this. It was _her_ choker; after all, of course she could take it off. Just because she hadn't taken it off in years didn't mean it was welded to her. That was half of her escape done already.

Stage two was similarly easy. Imperia had been friends with the moles who had built her cell, and she had learned a thing or two about metalworking. She loved poking around in the projects, hobbies, and interests of Warfang citizens, and she enjoyed the good natures of the moles in particular. They were pleasant to spend time with, and most generous in repaying kindness. She'd seen them bring the prison doors down here, and she'd watched the moles install similar doors in other parts of the city. These doors were extremely resistant to direct impact, but strength wasn't Imperia's style, and as it turned out her style was perfect for prison breaking.

She gently grasped the door hinges with her wind. They had pins, because it was easier to install and mend pinned hinges. The pins could be lifted straight out of the hinge. Of course a dragon would be frustrated doing this with their claws as the pins were on the outside of the cell bars and were also too tightly fitted to easily be pulled out. The moles weren't stupid and they didn't make stupid doors, but it was nearly impossible to design something that would foil skillful wind manipulation.

The pins popped out, and Imperia tugged the door to the side, then carefully pulled it from its frame and laid it down on the floor.

Easy.

She sashayed out of her cell, waving her tail playfully as she walked. There was nobody around; which was fortunate, because this was her escape after all and having an audience to it would probably be counterproductive, but she still couldn't resist looking sassy after performing such a stylish escape.

It was then that Imperia realised that there was a stage three to her plan: Climbing the stairs and flying away. That should have been easy too, but it was not to be.

Even as Imperia took the first step she sensed a dragon coming down the stairs from above.

Hissing quietly in annoyance the slender dragoness jumped into the air and flew up to the roof, using wind to support herself. She clung there, waiting to see what would happen.

She recognised the folded wings, skipping gait and spinning tail instantly. Flare walked directly below her, heading to the cell. The fire dragoness stopped instantly on seeing the door lying on the ground. Imperia slipped behind Flare and onto the stairs.

"Oh Imperia…" Flare sighed. She turned around and immediately saw the wind dragoness standing between her and the exit.

"Hi, darling. Would you believe that I did this because I really wanted to come and talk to you?"

"Not really." Flare said. "No, I think you're going after Cynder."

"Oh, correct on your first guess, well done." Imperia tried a smile. "Am I really that transparent?" Flare didn't return the smile; she didn't look to be in the mood for Imperia's charms.

"Please get back in the cell. And how did you get out anyway?"

"Not with Volteer's help." Imperia said.

"That's a very specific denial." Flare commented.

"Ok, I took off my jewellery and I had a passing knowledge of how hinges work. Really he had nothing to do with it; I just don't want him getting in trouble. I have to ask, by the way, do I look good without my choker? I'm not sure the metal was working for me, honestly."

"You look stunningly attractive, as usual." Flare said. "So I take it that you're going to continue escaping, despite me asking you not to?"

"I'm afraid so. And I was thinking I might try something red. Red and silver look simply gorgeous together, the two of us being a wonderful example."

Flare took a step towards Imperia.

Imperia backed up the stairs slightly. "I can outrun you. I can outrun anyone. You haven't a hope of catching me, Flare."

"No, I don't." Flare admitted. "And I wasn't going to try."

Imperia knew that she should probably run away now, but just looking at Flare she felt compelled to stay and talk. Flare was her mate, after all, even if they'd never bothered with making it official.

"So, you came to visit me? I'm really grateful that you did, despite it being awkward timing. While we're here alone I'd just like to say how sorry I am that I kept this secret from you."

Flare took another step forwards, Imperia backed away. The fire dragoness spoke with hurt in her voice. "I wanted it to be anyone but you. For a while I had reason to suspect Cynder, and I was actually glad that you might not be working with Malefor. In the years after the raid on the temple I even thought my master, Ignitus, was a bit too perfect to be genuine."

Imperia didn't respond; Flare advanced on her.

"I told myself I was just being paranoid."

"You sometimes come across as being a bit paranoid." Imperia commented. "But I think you're just more cautious and more intelligent than the rest of us."

"You're saying Volteer and yourself aren't intelligent?" Flare looked doubtful, her accusatory tone softened.

"No, I'm not saying that. But I think that we lack some of your caution."

Flare nodded, still edging forwards. "I think that you're right about that."

"Can you forgive me, Flare?" Imperia asked in a small voice; she kept retreating up the stairs. "Please say you can, I couldn't bear it if I had to leave you like this."

Flare sighed, she was about to respond when a new voice interrupted her.

"Stop there."

Terrador stood between Imperia and freedom. The wind dragoness looked back and forth between him and Flare, feeling suddenly trapped.

"Hi Terrador, I'm sorry about this… I just… well..." Imperia trailed off, lost for words. She giggled faintly.

Terrador looked at Flare. "I was concerned when you disappeared, but I did not expect you to let Imperia go."

"She didn't!" Imperia hurriedly said. Flare's denial was only a moment behind hers.

"She was free when I arrived." Flare exclaimed. "She got between me and the stairs, and then she started backing away."

"I did." Imperia said, not wanting Flare to be in trouble any more then she had wanted Volteer to be. "Escaping the cell was amusingly simple; it was just bad luck that Flare arrived as I was making my brilliant little escape."

Terrador laughed slightly. "Very well, I was surprised to think that you'd free Imperia, it makes more sense that you didn't. But I'm afraid we can't let you go, Imperia." He began to come down the stairs. Imperia looked like she wanted to back away, but Flare was below her.

"Now let's just talk about this. Terrador I mean no harm at all, please let me go."

Terrador shook his head. "We can't take that chance. This is Malefor we're dealing with; I can't let you go off on your own, especially not now that Cynder and Spyro are both missing."

Imperia looked back and forth between him and Flare, she moved down the stairs, closer to the fire dragoness.

"I forgot to mention that I came to visit you in the middle of a meeting." Flare said with amusement at Imperia's predicament. "I thought that someone would come to check on us."

"Oh come on…" Imperia muttered. "I hate being outwitted." She turned in a little circle on the step, no longer having anywhere to go. Imperia spread her wings slightly, looking past Terrador, up the stairs, trying to decide if she could make a break for it.

"Don't bother, Imperia." Terrador said. "In an enclosed space my element completely outmatches yours. You're not leaving."

Imperia looked back at Flare, she was well aware that Terrador spoke the truth. She had no chance of fighting her way out of here, and she couldn't bear to hurt Terrador even if there had have been a chance she could get past him. The fire guardian went to speak, but she was interrupted.

"That's no way to treat a lady, least of all your fellow guardian."

Terrador's head whipped around as he looked for the source of the new voice. It was a smooth and pleasant voice, deep and confident. He saw who had spoken and his eyes widened in shock. Malefor was strolling down the stairs behind him.

* * *

Cynder and Ember were bored. They had been locked in their room for a while now, and there wasn't really anything to do. After Cynder had made her revelation Ember had gone quiet, and Cynder had wandered back to the bed and sat there in silence.

After some time Ember joined her, lying down nearby.

Cynder put her wing over Ember's shoulders, the pink dragoness was warm and her presence was comforting to Cynder. Ember looked across at Cynder and smiled again, resting against Cynder's side.

They lay there for a while in comfortable silence, and then eventually Ember spoke.

"Cynder? Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure." Cynder said. The pink dragoness hesitated.

"How… How should I act around Spyro?"

Cynder raised her head to look at Ember. "I'm sorry, what?"

The other girl looked away shyly.

Cynder frowned, but not with any anger. "I guess that depends on what you want."

"I just don't want to annoy you." Ember said. "But I want… I mean… maybe… for him to notice me… and in a good way, rather than noticing me and trying to avoid me." She laughed slightly. "I hated it when he did that, but I liked him enough to keep trying even though it made me feel bad."

Cynder didn't respond immediately, Ember tried to explain a bit more.

"I know that you see me as just a clingy, useless, girl, and I don't want that any more. I'd like to be different."

Cynder looked at Ember, this was a moment for relationship advice, and she was probably not the best dragon for Ember to be talking to in this particular situation. But she had to try.

"Ember, why didn't you ever end up dating Spyro in the time while I was gone?" Cynder asked.

Ember blushed. "Well… I just… I tried my very best, but I didn't want to _force_ him to go out with me. I wouldn't do that to someone I cared about, not even for someone as incredible as Spyro."

"But you're so persistent. You had years; surely you could have found ways to get to know him a bit more?"

"Why are you asking me this?" Ember asked. She didn't sound as if she disliked where the conversation was going, in fact it sounded more like she was hoping Cynder was doing this in preparation for solving all her problems.

"I'm just… trying to understand." Cynder said.

"Oh. Ok." Ember nodded, looking glad for the answer. "I guess… I just… Well… I wanted Spyro to… y'know… make the first move." She admitted.

Cynder was surprised by that response. "Why?"

"Because I thought it was the way it should happen." Ember said, blushing. "I thought that was how it was supposed to work."

"Why?" Cynder asked again.

"What do you mean?"

"Why is that the way it should happen?" Cynder clarified.

"I don't know… it just is." Ember said. "And I guess… I didn't want to seem too… I don't know…" She shrugged, not wanting to use the word 'desperate' and unable to offer any more explanation. She had never questioned why romance worked like that before. Males were meant to ask females out, and that was just the way it happened.

"Did you ever consider just trying to be his friend?" Cynder asked.

Ember looked away. "Well… no… Not really. Is that what you did?"

"What I did was I had to trust Spyro; I was never given a choice. His was the first face I saw after I was freed from the Dark Master's control, and once I was told what happened between us I knew that I owed him everything. It was scary, but… he was just so nice, and kind, and he has a good heart. I was very lucky that if I had to owe my life to anyone that it was someone like him."

Ember nodded in understanding, imagining what Cynder must have felt. "That's romantic." She said.

"No, it wasn't." Cynder said, promptly shattering Ember's imaginings of what might have happened. "I didn't want to care about him. I thought it would be safer to be alone. I hated the idea that I'd only been saved because of the mercy of someone who could have easily left me to die, that idea scared me and made me feel helpless. Only we ended up together again, stuck together with a magic chain to be specific. I hadn't wanted to get to know anyone. That way I never needed to be at the mercy of anyone ever again, I could do everything for myself, but I was forced to be around someone, and I was forced to be around him."

Ember wasn't sure what to say. It didn't sound quite so romantic now.

"Spyro was the only living being who I really knew… I had feelings for him, but I had no idea what they were."

"Love?" Ember asked.

"Something like it, I guess…" Cynder said. "Well yes, I suppose it was love, but I didn't want it for a long time. He saved me again and again, which only made me feel even worse. I couldn't help it; he was all I had. And then I finally got chances to return the favour, times when he needed me like I had needed him. I finally felt like I had found someone I could trust, and there were all these feelings inside me..."

Cynder trailed off. Then she tilted her head and looked at Ember.

"Would it be normal to expect Spyro to make the first move?"

"Well… Yes?" Ember looked unsure. "I mean it doesn't _have_ to be that way, and it's not like a dragoness just has to sit there and do nothing and wait for a boy to notice her. It's just that generally it'll be a male who asks the female on a date or whatever. Did you not know that? Is that not what happened with you?"

"I got the entirety of my dating advice from Imperia, and she was of the opinion that the best place to look for a lover is among your friends." Cynder told Ember, blushing.

Ember frowned. "That was her advice?"

"Oh she had plenty of advice, and a lot of it contradicted itself. As far as I can tell her thoughts on relationships overall was just to do anything that you felt like, as long as it was done in a spirit of respect and fun."

"That's not bad advice." Ember said thoughtfully. "So you asked Spyro out?"

"Not exactly. Just before he saved the world I thought we were both going to die, I told him then that I loved him. He didn't respond in words at first, but I could sense that he wanted to tell me the same thing. When we made it back to the surface the first thing he did was tell me that he loved me too."

Ember blushed, thinking about that. "That's really nice."

Cynder nodded. "It was, but I was stupid and I ran away."

"That was my fault for making you leave Warfang, you can't blame yourself." Ember said.

"Don't worry about it." Cynder said. "Imperia dragged me back to the city to sort it out eventually." She smiled, and then her smile faded as once again the mention of the beautiful wind dragon sent a stab of pain through her heart.

"She really cares about you, I think. Maybe she even loves you." Ember said, hoping to comfort Cynder.

"That's why it hurts so much." Cynder said.

"Oh."

"It was Spyro who asked me out, once I came back to Warfang." Cynder said, trying to change the subject. "But I would have asked him out if he hadn't done it first."

Ember looked at her with admiration. "That's really brave of you."

Cynder nodded awkwardly. "Maybe we should talk about something else, when Spyro agreed to go out with me one of the first things I did was rub it in your face, and I still feel a bit bad about that."

"Don't." Ember said. "I'm totally ok with talking about Spyro. I won't feel bitter towards you."

"Why not?" Cynder asked, surprised.

"Well… In the past I knew that if you got Spyro then I wouldn't stand a chance, but that's not so true anymore. So now I feel as happy about you making a good impression on Spyro as I would if it had been one of my other friends."

"Other fr-? Oh right." Cynder blushed again. "Cyria and Flora and the others." And Miasma, she thought, but she decided not to mention that one out loud. Miasma had trusted her with that secret and she wouldn't tell it carelessly.

"Yes, them." Ember said.

"Just how many dragonesses want to date Spyro?" Cynder asked.

"Well there's me, Cyria, Flora, maybe some of the older dragonesses but I can't remember their names. And then there's Miasma, who I suspect secretly likes Spyro."

"You think Miasma likes Spyro?" Cynder asked. She certainly hadn't given that away, but she still felt slightly guilty that Miasma's secret hadn't been as much of a secret as the green dragoness had hoped it was.

"She's really shy, and hard to read, but I think so. I'd be surprised if she didn't. Anyway that's four, and I imagine there are several others."

"Would Spyro date Miasma?" Cynder asked curiously.

"It was her or Imperia that probably had the best chances." Ember said. "They were the two who spent most time around Spyro, and the ones who he'd talk to the most." She realised she'd put the topic back towards Imperia and mentally kicked herself for doing so, but Cynder didn't seem upset.

"Does _Imperia_ like Spyro?" the black dragoness asked.

Ember shrugged. "Who can tell with her? You'd probably know more than I do. Does she?"

Cynder sighed and rested her head on her paws. "Probably she does. She has good taste. That would make five, and I guess I'd make six."

Ember saw that Cynder was beginning to fall back into a sad mood, so she put the conversation back to where it had started. "So I'll just try to be Spyro's friend. Now that you mention it I probably should have done that years ago."

"Yeah…" Cynder said. Ember touched tails with the other girl and smiled encouragingly.

"It's going to be ok."

"I hope so." Cynder said. "And thanks for trying to cheer me up."

Ember nudged her. "I'm not done trying yet. Come on, let's talk about something."

Cynder smiled. "Something like what?"

"I don't know. Where did you learn to fight? Your fighting is really amazing."

"A lot of it I taught myself." Cynder said. "Imperia gave me lots of pointers on my melee fighting techniques, and she taught me everything I know about wind magic. I only saw Volteer occasionally, but he taught me a bit too. I also learned from Malefor, but I've forgotten most of the details about what that was like."

"All I know is the Dragon Standard style, which is better for defence then attack."

"And also is heavily simplified and standardised to ensure that it can be learned quickly by any dragon but will never be mastered by anyone." Cynder noted. "You, Nero and Flora all used exactly the same techniques with no indication of originality. Feyer I never fought in proper combat. The ice dragoness Cyria, was the only one who was a challenge. Seizo told me before the fight that she had been learning at a far more advanced level then most users of the Standard style and I could see it when I attacked her. She specialised, but none of the rest of you seemed to. Spyro too has expanded his fighting style from your average one, learning a lot from Terrador as well as doing some of his own creating."

"What?" Ember looked surprised. "How do you know all of that?"

"I assumed it when I first learned how and when Dragon Standard was taught, and I was proven right when I saw users of the style in combat. Before the start of out match I had a rough idea of what you'd be capable of, and I learned how to fight you even as I was fighting you."

"In the middle of our fight?"

"Well, yes. If you don't learn to respond to what your opponents are doing then you'll usually fare pretty badly against them."

"I should really keep that in mind." Ember said.

"It's good to know. But you don't seem like the fighting type really." Cynder replied.

"That's true." Ember admitted. "But… well... sometimes I'd like to be."

"To be a fighter?" Cynder asked, curious about this side of Ember's personality.

"Yes. I mean… not really to hurt anyone, but just to be strong and tough and brave."

"You are those things." Cynder said. "The only things you lack are confidence and skill."

"And you're so good at those two things, how do I do them? And I thought you just said I didn't seem like the fighting type." Ember frowned at her.

"I did just say that, but I changed my mind once I thought through what I was saying. You might not look or act like much of a fighter, but you're tall for your age, our age that is, and I know from seeing you fight that you're really brave and determined."

Ember blushed. "Thanks."

"As for how you get to be skilled and confident, all I can say is that you practice." Cynder said. "You just need to learn confidence, and skill is about finding what works for you."

"What works for me?" Ember repeated doubtfully.

"No two ways of fighting are the same. For instance Dragon Standard is mostly about dodging and blocking, while focusing far less on powerful physical attacks, it relies on your elemental abilities to a large degree. That may not the best style for you."

"But I don't know anything else; I wouldn't even know where to start."

"I haven't actually seen Flare fight seriously, but I've heard a bit about her using dancing and setting herself on fire. Maybe ask Flare about her melee style when we next see her, it might give you some ideas, even if it's not perfect for you."

Ember nodded happily. "That's an excellent idea; she uses her fire element really well and I think that's one of my strengths. Thanks Cynder."

"No problem." Cynder smiled.

"Could you please tell me about your style?" Ember asked.

"Ok." Cynder nodded. "It practically essential to be able to use the wind element, and the attacks that I'd use my wings for might not work at all without that, so don't expect too much if you learn to fight in my way."

"You use your wings to attack?" Ember asked. As far as she knew dragons usually only used their wings to block or deflect; and to move around.

"Yes, and not just by sometimes using them for defence or to smack my opponents, I use wind to give them cutting edges and fight with them as if they were two extra blades."

"Right. I don't think I could use that then."

"Maybe not, but there are a few things that my way of fighting could teach you. Speed, aggression, strategy. Those things can be useful to anyone, I think."

"Grace, finesse and beauty." Ember added.

Cynder blinked. "Really?"

"Definitely." Ember confirmed. "Maybe that's more about you as a dragoness then about how you fight. You just always seem to be so powerful and in control."

"Except when you saved me from Magmar, and both times I've tried to fight Malefor." Cynder said. She got up and stepped off the bed, looking annoyed. "I've failed plenty of times…"

"But you don't let it get to you. You stay strong no matter what the problem is." Ember said.

Cynder laughed without humour. "You keep complimenting me, but I couldn't even get us both out of this room."

"Well no." Ember admitted. "But you _did_ get out on your own for a while. That was pretty impressive."

"That's just because I have an element that can do those things, it's not like I can do that any… more…" Cynder stopped, frowning thoughtfully

"What's wrong, Cynder?" Ember asked.

"Nothing." Cynder glanced back at Ember, and then looked at the door. "I just remembered something."

"What did you remember?" Ember looked curious.

Cynder reached out with her paw, and within moments she felt a slight tingling. She grabbed at the air and pulled the Dragonslayer out of nowhere. "I remembered this."

Ember stared at the golden weapon. "Wow… it's beautiful. Is it a spear?"

Cynder gave the weapon a test spin, enjoying its balance and weight, admiring the way it cut the air. "It's the Dragonslayer, it's an ancient magical weapon. Imperia gave it to me, but I forgot all about it until now."

Cynder looked more closely at the blade, it seemed to have changed shape since she'd last seen it, the blade was no longer quite so broad and weighty, and it was no longer a diamond shaped blade. Instead the spearhead was now narrow, with a flat blade, and had a slight curve to its razor sharp edge. It resembled a naginata, although Cynder didn't know what a naginata was and instead thought of it as a slimmer blade to what the spear had previously had, which was good enough for her.

It had definitely changed shape, and Cynder didn't take long to figure out why.

It was still too thick to put into the edge of the door, but Cynder felt the weapon gently tempt her into trying it. This object had a certain level of consciousness, and it would try to help her discover its full potential. She grasped the spear in both paws, taking a comfortable stance, and rested it against the door. It slipped into the gap easily, despite such a thing not being physically possible. Cynder slid the spear from the top of the door to the bottom and she felt slight resistance. After a few seconds she withdrew the blade, and the door swung open.

"Well… I can see why she liked it so much." Cynder said. She looked back at Ember.

The pink dragoness stood up, filled with new determination.

"Let's go save Spyro!"

* * *

 **-4Dragons**


	34. Pride

**I have a few songs for this chapter. First is 'Remember the Name' by Fort Minor. This song is for Malefor and Imperia, because the sheer badassery of the two of them deserves a song as epic as this one. And it's worth noting that this is at _least_ 40% skill.  
** **'Angel with a Shotgun' by The Cab comes back for Imperia, but you've hopefully already listened to it.  
'You're Not Me' from the Yu-Gi-Oh Movie soundtrack is for Malefor.**

 **The last, and perhaps most important, is 'Ready for War' by a bunch of rappers, specifically 50 Cent, Eminem, Dr. Dre and 2pac.  
(searching '50 Cent Ready For War' will find the song pretty easily.)  
This song takes the concept of badassery up to eleven, even if (like me) you find rapping and/or swearing distasteful it's still worth listening to just for the sheer level of awesomeness it conveys.  
Malefor wouldn't be impressed, and you might not be either, if you don't listen to the lyrics it sounds like it's just swearing and ranting, but it's actually a song about being a rap legend. These guys are much cooler then you might expect, despite the association of rappers with being rough thugs.**

 **Story now:**

* * *

"Terrador, it's a pleasure to meet you." Malefor said lazily; the purple dragon leaned to the side as he walked and looked down the stairs past Imperia to where Flare was standing. "And you must be Flare, I've heard a great deal about you too."

The fire dragoness didn't respond; she just stayed silent, watching.

"Malefor." Terrador said softly.

The purple dragon didn't slow down as he neared Terrador, he only smiled. "Step aside please."

Terrador reluctantly stepped aside and Malefor walked past him, looking totally confident. He stopped as he saw Imperia.

"Hi there." Imperia curtsied, blushing. She was, for once, lost for words. Malefor's smile grew warm and genuine as he looked at the silver dragoness. He looked at her as if mesmerised, seeing her for the first time. Imperia was in a similar state, gazing at the purple dragon with a look that was almost a look of wonder.

"Imperia, I'm delighted to meet you at last." Malefor walked down to her and hesitated. "I'm not entirely sure how to greet you. A suitable mark of respect for all that I owe you, but naturally not something too serious. Could you raise your paw?"

Imperia did as she'd been asked; Malefor courteously took her offered paw and kissed it lightly.

"Thank you, Imperia for everything you've done for me." He bowed to her. "How's that for a greeting?"

Imperia shook her head. "That was nice, but not really my style. It was too awkward and formal." She reared up on her hind legs and then threw herself on Malefor, wrapping him in a tight hug. "We're doing this!"

Malefor made a startled sound, but after a moment he relaxed into Imperia's comfortable hold, rearing up and putting his wings and forelegs around her too. He lightly stroked the curve of her back and wings.

The two dragons separated after several seconds, Imperia gave Malefor a quick lick on the cheek before stepping back. Malefor smiled fondly at her, looking flattered but somewhat unsure.

"You're even more beautiful than I had expected."

"You're not so bad yourself." Imperia replied playfully. He was indeed rather handsome, he didn't have Volteer's eccentrically cute appearance or Spyro's lean strength and grace, but he had a refined scholarly style that charmed Imperia instantly.

"I thought you two hadn't ever met." Flare said.

"This is our first time meeting face to face." Imperia said, looking back to the fire dragoness.

"But we are friends." Malefor added.

Flare snorted. "You'll be discussing baby names by the end of the week."

Imperia looked at the wall with a blush; the obvious implications of that comment left her too embarrassed to reply.

"I've never had any intent to gain Imperia's affections." Malefor said briefly.

"Well maybe not, but you didn't need to shoot the idea down quite that quickly…" Imperia muttered, still blushing.

Malefor laughed. "I said only that I had no intent to gain your affection, I did not say that I don't desire it."

"Oh."

Imperia was momentarily caught by surprise, and then she smiled.

"And you also spoke only in the past tense. I'd missed that at first." Imperia said coyly. She giggled in embarrassment. "That's good to know. Oh, and am I to take that comment as an attempt to attract my affection? Thus rendering your previous statement invalid from now on?"

"Perhaps we should save this discussion for later?" Malefor said, glancing back at Terrador, looking slightly awkward.

"I'll look forwards to later." Imperia responded. Malefor blushed at her words and spent a moment just looking at her.

Imperia saw genuine warmth in Malefor's eyes, she smiled softly.

Terrador stepped across so that he was blocking the stairs. Malefor heard the movement and sighed, in moments the emotion he had shown was hidden again. Imperia was disappointed, she didn't like seeing Malefor behave so coldly.

The purple dragon coiled around and began to walk back up the stairs towards Terrador.

"You'd really give your life to keep me from leaving this cell? It's not even my cell."

Terrador didn't reply. Malefor laughed.

"There are dragons like Thoran, the former guardian of electricity, out there in the world, dragons who are cruel, remorseless murderers, and yet you are more concerned with Imperia and myself?"

"You could destroy our world, they couldn't."

"And yet I take care in my actions to cause minimal destruction, while they can and do destroy the families, homes and lives of innocents with hardly a second thought."

"I've explained your plan to them." Imperia said helpfully. "About remaking the world as a more peaceful place, united under the leadership of you, Spyro and Cynder."

Flare in particular noticed that Imperia neglected to mention she had previously claimed to disagree with the plan. The fire dragoness didn't comment, wondering if Malefor knew about this.

"Ah, and how was it received?" Malefor asked.

Imperia walked after the purple dragon, sticking close to him. "Volteer saw nothing inherently wrong with it, Cyril disagrees completely, and these two -" Imperia flicked her tail at Flare and then again at Terrador. "-haven't given any definite answer."

"I thought Volteer would agree." Malefor mused. "From what you've told me about him he seems to be a similar dragon to myself."

"There are similarities, yes." Imperia nodded, smiling to herself.

Malefor reached the step below Terrador and stopped, the two dragons were so close they were almost touching.

Malefor considered Terrador with interest, the green dragon was larger and physically stronger than he was, and the sense of calm that he possessed was quite impressive. Malefor had no fear of Terrador whatsoever, but he had to admire the other dragon.

"Let's not concern ourselves with the fate of the world. Nobody alone has a right to decide what to do about that. You, Terrador, are only one dragon. It's now your chance to decide the fate of a single other dragon: me. Do I leave here as a criminal, or can I leave as a potential ally?"

Malefor spoke without any indication of threat, but Terrador did not miss the fact that both of Malefor's options resulted in the purple dragon doing exactly what he wanted to do.

Terrador hesitated, he couldn't stop Malefor, and stepping aside was the most logical option, but doing so just felt wrong. Malefor saw the conflict in the earth dragon's eyes, he sympathised with it completely, but the cold logic in his mind was working rapidly to calculate Terrador's emotions and design ways to manipulate him.

He started working on his best line of attack; Terrador's obvious strength, his military disposition, came with an inherent opening for manipulation.

"You may not have trusted the cheetahs at first, they are independent, dangerous, adaptable, not the most reliable of allies. Yet when you needed their help, they came; and you were not expecting that because, blinded by your distrust of their ways, you missed seeing the truth about the race of cheetahs. They fight for honour, and they have a strong sense of pride and justice."

"I know what you're doing." Terrador said softly. "You're putting doubt in my mind, trying to make me trust you."

"Do you trust only yourself?" Malefor seized the weakness Terrador had given him and instantly spun it into a counterargument. "I'd be surprised. You understand that you can't know everything, and sometimes you need to take advice."

Terrador faltered, his mind working rapidly. Malefor was trying to control him, but… He hadn't lied… Terrador hadn't trusted the cheetahs at first, yet when they had needed that alliance the most it had proven to be a true one. Could Malefor be the same?

Malefor had also been wickedly accurate with his comment on trust; Terrador had once only trusted himself, until he had met Ignitus. The fire dragon, his closest friend, had taught Terrador the lesson that even now he valued the most. Ignitus had taught Terrador that there were many good dragons, good individuals of every species, in this world, and they were worth protecting. Malefor surely couldn't have known that when he made the comment, but it had a profound effect.

Malefor saw that his comment had made an impact, he had based it only on the knowledge that Terrador was an army commander and would therefore need to trust some information without verifying it for himself, but clearly there was something else about Terrador. He may not have planned it that way, but it wasn't difficult to adapt to it, he had been going to press the guardian further, but now there was no need.

"The choice is yours." Malefor spoke softly.

After several seconds Terrador stepped aside.

Malefor stepped past him, Imperia stayed close to the purple dragon's side as the two of them walked away.

Terrador sighed, resting his weight against the wall. He felt stressed and more than a little bit confused. Flare walked up to him and touched his tail with hers. Flare's soft feathery tail felt unusual brushing against his scales.

"You did well, Terrador."

"Maybe… but did I do what was right?"

"We'll find out." Flare said. "In your situation I'd have done exactly the same thing. Don't blame yourself for anything."

"How did you know I was thinking of blaming myself?" Terrador asked, chuckling slightly.

"Because I know you, my friend." Flare curled her tail over his and rested a paw on his shoulder.

Terrador closed his eyes, feeling somewhat comforted. "Thank you Flare."

The fire dragoness nodded. "It's no problem."

"Flare? Would you have let me take Imperia back to her cell? Or would you have been on her side?"

Terrador looked at Flare. The dragoness shrugged. "I'm not happy with Imperia right now, but that doesn't change the fact that I love her. I don't know the answer to that, Terrador. I'm sorry. Now, I might ask you the same question: would _you_ have taken Imperia back to her cell?"

Terrador chuckled again. "I very much doubt it."

* * *

Imperia walked beside Malefor up the steps and back to freedom.

"Thanks for the rescue."

Malefor smiled, looking back at the dragoness. "I'm surprised you needed it. Originally I thought I'd just be visiting."

"Ah, yes, well, I knew how to escape my cell without any problems, but just as I got out Flare came to visit me." Imperia looked down the stairs to where Flare and Terrador were talking. "I could have gotten away without too much trouble, but I felt that I ought to try and fix our relationship. Then Terrador came down and trapped me."

Malefor laughed. "How very like you; to prioritise those you care about over the most logical course of action."

"Speaking of which… you're not mad that I told Cynder the truth, are you?"

Malefor glanced across at her with amusement. "Of course not. I may not have expected or wanted it, but your ability to surprise me is one of the things I most like about you. I trust you with my plans, and I've trusted you with my life; I know you won't always do what I would do in your situation, but I trust who you are."

Imperia blushed slightly. "That's… a really nice thing to say. I didn't think you'd punish me for disobedience or anything like that, but I did expect you to be a bit mad at me."

"I'm often frustrated by you and your attempts to play around with my plans, but I think you have only good intentions, so I allow your meddling."

"Plus I can turn out to be useful on occasion." Imperia commented.

Malefor laughed in agreement. "Invaluably useful, and excellent company."

"Aww, thanks. I'm honoured you think so highly of me." Imperia purred. "So have you thought any more about our morality debate?"

"I have thought about it a great deal. It's objectively better to remove undesirable behaviour from our society then it is to merely penalise it. I still don't think you ought to call it a 'morality' debate."

Imperia frowned. She usually had at least one extended discussion going on with Malefor, and this latest one was about justice in society. Some individuals in a society would take advantage of others, or harm them, and that did damage to the society as a whole. The question that the two dragons were currently debating was weather it was better to use laws to keep potential wrongdoers under control, or if it would be better to remove the _desire_ to do wrong, before it could ever lead to an action.

Imperia had a response prepared for Malefor's view.

"It's objectively more effective to stop dragons from thinking the wrong thoughts, but you can't say it's objectively better. Saying its better would be to discount the value of a dragon's right to choose. You yourself respected my right to choose only a moment ago, in that you allow me to do what I want to do, even if it goes against what you would prefer that I do."

"True, but I know that you have good intentions. Surely removing bad intentions from dragons would result in more dragons like you, who I can trust to do the right thing without needing to be controlled."

Imperia smiled playfully. "I have a few bad intentions, I choose to ignore them. Would you remove that from my personality?"

"That's an appeal to my emotion, not a strictly rational argument." Malefor looked disapproving.

"Oh really? Well that's a fallacy fallacy. The fact that I can't outmatch you with detached logic and instead choose to respond with different tactics does not make me wrong. Oh, and I was using myself as a valid counterexample that still needs to be refuted, I'd be less than I am without the negative sides of my personality, and I'm not the only one. I simply used myself to make sure that you thought my point through thoroughly."

Malefor hummed thoughtfully. "Well played. I'll come back with a rejoinder to that later on, once I think of one."

Imperia grinned at Malefor and brushed her wing against his. "Maybe I'm right about morality."

"Maybe…" The purple dragons shrugged. "It wouldn't be the first time you've been right." His wing flicked, but he didn't pull away.

The pair of dragons emerged into the sunlight of Warfang. There were high buildings on all sides and a pair of guard dragons standing on either side of the door. The dragons were there to guard Imperia, but the purple dragon was right beside her. For a split second nobody moved, and then the guards both spoke.

"Spyro?" One asked doubtfully.

"Malefor?" The other said.

The two guards looked at each other, the one who had said Spyro obviously hadn't even thought of Malefor, and he stared back at the purple dragon with a terrified expression.

"Malefor!" The second guard growled again, stepping forwards.

"I'm meant to be here." Malefor said smoothly. "Go and check with Terrador and he'll tell you so." The pure confidence with which he spoke left the guards unsure.

"W-where did you come from?" The first guard asked.

"Ask Terrador, he'll explain."

"Watch them." The second guard growled, and then he ran down the stairs to find Terrador.

The first guard tried to get between Malefor, Imperia and the exit. Malefor smiled at him. "Don't tell anyone I'm here, we don't want to cause a panic, do we? I'm busy, so I'm leaving and you are not allowed to follow me. If they ask why you let me go then say that Imperia and myself disappeared in a flash of light, they will believe you."

The guard shook his head.

"I actually will disappear in a flash of light if necessary." Malefor used wind to nudge the guard aside and then walked away, Imperia walked with him.

The guard scrambled after them, but was blocked by a wall of wind; by the time he'd flown over it Malefor and Imperia had gone.

Imperia and Malefor walked around the dragon temple, heading towards one of the rarely used side entrances, they passed nobody as they walked. There was a nice view of the Warfang skyline to their right.

Malefor sighed, looking thoughtful. His eyes scanned across the buildings of Warfang.

"This city was my home."

Imperia looked at him, seeing hints of nostalgia in Malefor's behaviour. She gave him a smile.

"This city is my home too. It's a beautiful place. You could live here, if you chose to."

"You live in the northern tower, right? You've mentioned that you had the rooms renovated, I'd like to see that."

Imperia laughed. "Oh please, my best work by far has been Cynder's fortress, compared to that my own little projects are just dabbling."

"That's not true, you used tonnes of my resources to lavishly decorate that fortress, but you don't live in it, so I don't think you had the time to make the entire palace utterly perfect. I'd like to see what you've done to your home."

"Thanks, I can hardly refuse after you complimented me like that, can I?" Imperia added a hint of flirtatiousness to her voice. "I'll show you where I live sometime soon then. But first, you've already met Flare, so… I think I ought to show you my _other_ partner!"

Imperia skipped ahead before taking a quick left and darting into a door in the dragon temple; leaving Malefor behind her looking more than a little bit bemused.

* * *

The purple dragon looked around the temple as he walked after Imperia. He walked briskly, not wanting to lose her, but he could quite easily track her lavender scent so he didn't need to break into an undignified run in order to keep her in sight.

The dragon temple was much grander then he remembered it. When he had been in Warfang he had spent almost all of his time in the massive caverns below the city. Then the temple had simply been a building with one large circular room for meetings, with nothing interesting in it. Malefor could tell that the temple was now a school, he could see evidence of young dragons inhabiting this place, he also spotted areas with lots of shallow claw marks, suggesting that dragons could run and play in those places without needing to be careful of damaging the stone.

Malefor hadn't been to a place like this since he'd been a child. Being back here now felt unusual to the purple dragon.

It felt strangely… nice.

Malefor followed Imperia's scent around a corner, but then the scent stopped. Malefor frowned. Imperia had gone into a nearby classroom. He went to the door, but the classroom was occupied by several young dragons. It was an obvious trap. Malefor kept going down the corridor.

After a few paces he smelt lavender again, she hadn't gone into the classroom, she had only wafted some of her scent in there to fool him.

Malefor wasn't sure if he should be annoyed or amused. The wind dragoness had known how he would follow her, so she was deliberately playing games with him by manipulating where her scent led him.

Malefor was not the sort of dragon who ought to be 'messed around' with. Then again Imperia was the type of dragon who would mess around with him anyway.

The purple dragon activated dragon time. He wasn't going to play along too much. He walked after the sliver female, reluctantly deciding that he was amused rather than annoyed.

Malefor caught up to Imperia where she was running down towards one of the meeting rooms. She was still frozen in time, her body was totally still with only one of her four paws touching the ground, she was poised gracefully, looking back to where she knew Malefor would be following, and she was laughing. It was a beautiful moment.

Malefor cocked his head as he looked at her; he admired her shapely figure and the playful lively look on her face. He walked right up to her before deactivating dragon time.

To Imperia it seemed like Malefor had appeared beside her in a flash of purple light, she yelped in surprise and skidded to a halt.

"That… is so cool!" She said. After a brief moment of shock she started walking again.

Malefor fell into step beside her. "I'm glad you think so. However I doubt that many will share your view about such theatrics."

"You might be surprised. This city has gotten used to me, and you're nowhere near as silly."

Malefor snorted with laughter at that. "You do have a point there."

Imperia nodded, she turned into a separate room, Malefor followed her automatically before he realised that there was a blue dragon already in the room. His eyes met those of the blue dragon, and it was just a moment too late to use dragon time.

Imperia looked between Cyril and Malefor for a split second, and then she spoke. "Cyril, where's Volteer? I'd like to introduce two of the most important males in my life to each other. It'll be hilarious, wouldn't you say?"

Cyril's expression went through several rapid phases. Firstly had been irritation at seeing Imperia and a strange dragon walk into the room, secondly was what could best be called determination as he took a step forwards as if to stop her. Determination became mixed with shock and a slight bit of fear once Cyril realised exactly who Imperia had walked into the room with. He failed to speak for long enough to hear Imperia's words, and then the primary expression on his face became one of bewilderment.

Imperia had to laugh at his expression, and Malefor chuckled slightly as well. Cyril gaped at them for half a second, before regaining his composure.

"Impe- Mal- what? Whe-? How?"

Or not.

Imperia waited politely for Cyril to put together a coherent sentence. Malefor wasn't entirely sure how to respond to this sort of situation, it was simply too strange.

"What is going on?" Cyril demanded of Imperia.

"Malefor came; he talked to Terrador, now I'm free again. Where's Volteer?"

Cyril spluttered, struggling to express his shock and make sense of what was going on. Imperia's explanation was hopelessly inadequate.

Malefor knew better then to underestimate the ice dragon, Cyril was paralysed by indecision, but any hint aggression would probably result in the ice dragon making an instant recovery from that, having seen a clear course of action, and an ice spike fired at his head a millisecond later. He stayed quiet. He had to admire Imperia's quick thinking; her methods were questionable, to say the least, but she'd controlled the situation expertly, perhaps even more effectively then Malefor could have.

Cyril spoke warily now.

"Why is he here?"

Imperia responded with a smile, and then she shrugged and looked back at the purple dragon. "I don't know exactly. Malefor?"

Malefor considered the two of them thoughtfully.

"During the battle at Shattershelf I took a prisoner. I've simply come to return her as a gesture of goodwill."

Imperia frowned. "A Warfang dragon? I thought Terrador accounted for everyone."

"We did account for everyone." Cyril said briefly, with a suspicious frown.

"Not a Warfang dragon; one of the fire dragons. She was brought down by the war machines during the siege. Gracious had given orders that all fighting dragons were to be killed, but I felt otherwise."

"Why bring this fire dragoness here? And where, supposedly, is she?" Cyril didn't bother to hide his disbelief.

"Outside the city gates. I put her to sleep and left her by the road. Even I can't do everything, and infiltrating your city was enough of a challenge without bringing her. As for why here specifically, well-" He smiled slightly. "I knew that it would be Warfang dragons that would try to come looking for me, and that it would be Warfang where Imperia was held."

"You're completing multiple goals with a single move." Imperia nodded. "That makes sense."

Malefor looked at her, and some sort of understanding seemed to pass between them. Malefor hesitated, no longer looking so relaxed. "You'll be glad to know that Ember is alright, she and Cynder are both perfectly fine, as is Spyro. I left Cynder and Ember in a room together."

Imperia snorted. "Better be careful, or you'll find a smoking ruin when you get back."

This comment earned her a glare from the purple dragon. "That isn't likely, but I have no intention of delaying here overlong."

Imperia nodded, Malefor went to continue but Imperia interrupted him. "Cyril, we should probably see to that fire dragon before she wakes."

Cyril considered the two of them. "I don't trust Malefor with only you keeping watch on him." He turned to Malefor. "Maybe I couldn't stop you from leaving, but that doesn't mean I'm willing to leave you alone without a trusted dragon present."

Imperia began to grin. "No need to worry, Cyril. Volteer's coming."

Cyril frowned. "How-?"

Imperia flicked her wings. "Wind dragon, remember? And I know exactly how Volteer's body shape feels."

The silver dragoness was correct; Volteer hurried through the door an instant later.

"What's going on? I overheard fragments of information from Flare, cause for speculation, rumours, hints at…" The electric dragon trailed off, his mouth falling open as his eyes processed Malefor.

Imperia smiled, she circled away from Malefor and nearer to Volteer, but she also shot a glance at Cyril. "I suggest you find someone to look for this fire dragoness."

Cyril, surprisingly, left without a comment.

Imperia happily turned back to Volteer and Malefor, wondering what would happen.

"Oh… Ah… ahem… hello?" Volteer didn't seem fearful of the purple dragon, but he was clearly somewhat shaken. After a few moments he hurriedly closed his gaping mouth.

Malefor smiled and inclined his head in respect for the other dragon. "Imperia has told me a great deal about you, Volteer. I'm pleased to meet you." The purple dragon's aura of detached coldness was fading again as he engaged in the conversation.

Volteer blushed before replying. "I've only recently been privy to information on your association with Imperia; she spoke very highly of you." He glanced across at Imperia, who nodded cheerfully.

Malefor laughed. "We'll see, do tell me if I live up to her comments. What would you do if you were in my position?" He considered the two other dragons. "You both know more about Warfang then I do. How would the city react to my presence here?"

Volteer chuckled.

Malefor looked at him, expecting him to speak, but apparently the electric guardian was just going to laugh.

Imperia shrugged. "It's hard to guess. Poorly at first, for sure, the question is how long it'd take everyone to warm up to you. I imagine that the moles would accept you without too much trouble; they've always been able to see the benefits of having powerful allies."

"Indeed." Volteer said. "The moles, despite lacking in stature, have remarkable endurance and strength; however they are well aware that they're best served by associating with other more powerful races and using their essential, invaluable, unparalleled and irreplaceable building skills for the benefit of both them and their allies, who, where and whatever those allies might be."

Malefor looked at Volteer; the lightning dragon's comment had been entirely accurate, but it had been phrased in an unusually complicated way.

Malefor had never previously considered the moles to be of great value, when he needed things built he had used the apes or the orcs for labour. The apes were difficult to control as well as being severely limited in terms of their adaptability, while the orcs were only capable of very basic problem solving and couldn't comprehend more abstractly creative forms of thought at all. Anything that required actual intelligence he had usually preferred to design by himself, such as Cynder's former abode in Concurrent Skies. Moles, however, were excellent builders; they were highly intelligent, with practical minds that excelled at architecture and engineering, plus they typically had honest and trustworthy natures.

"So the moles might take my side…" Malefor decided to appreciate moles more in the future, the more he thought about them the more appealing they looked as potential allies. "How long would it take to gain some support?"

"Weeks, probably." Imperia said.

"And Cyril would almost certainly prove to be trouble." Volteer added. "For the moment he'll undoubtedly be thinking that you're beyond him and cannot be dealt with by his preferred means, but if you tried to engage in political activities then you'd be stepping straight into his sphere of influence."

Malefor looked amused. "Cyril's preferred means?"

"He can use laws like a cheetah would use a battle-axe." Imperia said.

"Or a club." Volteer added helpfully. "A great big steel club with dried blood and dully gleaming spikes all over it."

Imperia shook her head at that. "More like an axe, I think, it's got sharper edges and can be swung faster. The point is that if you're answerable to authority then Cyril will personally make sure that you never do anything the slightest bit dangerous ever again." She tapped her snout thoughtfully; internally wondering if that could actually be a good thing.

Malefor nodded. "I see. Well I don't have time for that now, once I can afford to spend months dealing with Cyril, dragons, moles and everyone else then perhaps I shall consider ways to get Warfang on my side. Imperia your comment on weapons reminds me, I would like to borrow your Dragnslayer."

Volteer frowned. "What would you plan to be doing with a weapon imbibed with such abilities, and surrounded by such sinister reputation, and coupled with an ominous name, and which I might add is of great value to Imperia? Why, the Dragonslayer is a dangerous tool with a definitive purpose, and that purpose is not one which many dragons would approve of, ah, and would you plan to threaten Spyro with it? Because if that is the case then I feel it would be unwise to let you have it. In fact, you haven't yet explained what you're doing with Spyro at all."

Malefor raised a paw in a calming gesture, stopping Volteer's tirade of comments.

"You know about Spyro's dark side, naturally. Well I'm solving that problem for you. Spyro isn't going to be harmed; indeed he'll be benefited by this, just like Cynder and I were."

"But the Dragonslayer? It slays dragons; it was named by someone who had a very literal mind!" Volteer still didn't look happy.

"I'm not going to use it for that." Malefor said. He glanced at Imperia. "What do you think? May I borrow it?"

Imperia hesitated. "I'd willingly let you… If I currently had it."

Malefor looked at her, the silver dragoness shrugged apologetically. "Please tell me that you had to give it to Terrador, so that you couldn't use it to escape your cell."

"Ah… no. I sort of… gave it to Cynder."

"Well that's just _great_. Imperia, if I may ask… what in the name of the Ancestors were you thinking when you gave Cynder that spear?" Malefor allowed his voice to rise slightly in volume.

Imperia looked at the floor and mumbled. "I just wanted to help her…"

"The moment Spyro is freed he _will_ become Dark Spyro. That was the drawback of the method I used to keep him from changing too early. I set up defences, but they'll only slow the two of them down, and against that spear my sigils are next to useless."

Malefor spoke rapidly to himself, walking briskly around the room.

"She didn't use the spear before, not even when I was there." He looked at Imperia. "She had perfect opportunities to use the spear on me, but she didn't. Why not?" He answered his own question immediately. "She's waiting for something, or she forgot she could summon it. Either way she will escape eventually, and she'll go after Spyro. Imperia, come with me."

"Huh?" Imperia blinked at him, blushing slightly.

"You caused this problem, and I don't want you to cause further disasters, but I need you to reason with Cynder."

"Are you sure?" Imperia looked hesitant.

"Cynder's escape is a definitive, and it will happen after X amount of time. The longer we wait the faster the time remaining until amount of time X elapses, the decrease grows faster at an exponential rate. If it hasn't happened yet then it becomes progressively more urgent that we return. Yes, I am sure."

"Malefor?" Volteer nervously spoke even as Malefor stalked across the room and opened his wings. "Did you just transfer a substantial value of gems to me, or are my magical senses somehow giving me inaccurate information?"

"I did transfer gems to you. An advance payment." Malefor didn't slow down as he replied. "Imperia, we need to go."

"An advance payment? For wh-"

Volteer's question was answered when Malefor took off, the purple dragon blasted a hole in the roof as he accelerated into the sky.

"Oh. Right. Insurance costs. That's… reasonable." Volteer mumbled.

Imperia shrugged apologetically. "We'll talk about it all once I've gone and rescued Cynder from Malefor. Or possibly once I've rescued Malefor from Cynder. We'll see how it goes, and I'll tell you everything later. I love you, bye!"

Imperia kissed him before running across the room, Volteer hurriedly waved goodbye.

"Oh! And say goodbye to Flare for me too!"

The silver dragoness followed Malefor out through the hole in the ceiling and disappeared.

Volteer frowned after them. "But hang on… considering time X is inevitable then isn't it more logical to begin your calculation from the moment you left as opposed to from the present? In which case every moment has an equal chance of being time X, and therefore no moment is more urgent then the next, aside from it being one more moment in which time X might occur."

He looked up at the hole in the roof.

"Malefor! Your logic is overly pessimistic and results in an unnecessary sense of time pressure that has nothing to do with the actual causation of the events you're concerning yourself with!"

There was no reply, but Volteer hadn't really expected one. He frowned to himself.

"Hmm… neither view is technically wrong. His is just more urgent. Then again… Sometimes urgency is needed. Malefor called it an _amount_ of time X, where as I considered X to be a certain time that could occur at any time beginning from a specified moment…"

He looked back up at the roof.

"Nevermind! You have a fair point!"

Cyril walked briskly back into the room just in time to hear Volteer talking to an empty smoking hole in the stone. "Volteer! Where is Mal… uh… what are you doing?"

* * *

 **I'd like to know what you thought of this chapter, particularly about Imperia and Malefor.**

 **Another thing:  
I'm thinking of writing a new story, you can see the current outlines for ideas on my profile, but I think that now is a good time for me to ask you all what you would want from a story of mine. What fandom, genre, plot, important moments or whatever would you like to see in a story? I'm interested to try new things.**

 **Please don't worry, though. I am still thoroughly absorbed in A Duel with Destiny, and it's not about to end.**

 **The next update may be delayed, that's because the whole story has been leading up to the next moment. It will be a multi part chapter, and I'll post all the parts over the course of a single week. The only thing is that I need to finish writing it first ;)**

 **Remember way back in chapter 5 when I said that Spyro and Cynder each have another song to be revealed later? I said it ages ago, so you may have forgotten, but I did say it. That time will be next time.**

 **I'll see you then.**

 **-4Dragons**


	35. The Fall Part I: Ember

**Chapter 35**

 _ **The Fall  
Part I: Ember  
~**_

 **Well here we are. I've been planning for this since the beginning, and the moment has finally arrived. The parts of this 'chapter' will be posted over the course of one week.**

 **The parts have been divided according to song. I can't recommend enough that you listen to each song as you read.**

 **The song for this chapter is Skyfall, by Adele. It is the opening theme of the James Bond movie called Skyfall. This song is from the author as much as from the story.**

 **So overdue I owe them,**

 **Swept away I'm stolen.**

* * *

Cynder and Ember moved stealthily through the fortress. It was eerily quiet; all of the pleasant decorated rooms and large tasteful spaces were empty. They encountered nothing to stop them.

Malefor was the biggest danger; even with the Dragonslayer and with Ember's help Cynder was not confident about taking him on. She could have a chance of winning, but if she lost then Malefor might take the spear from her and use it against them later; which would be a disaster.

The odds of them running into Malefor were lower than the chances of them setting off some magical alarm or force field, so despite the lack of encounters with living things the two girls remained fully on guard. They also kept a wary eye out for orcs, and any other creatures that Malefor might have set to watch over his stronghold.

Orcs had brought them their food earlier that day, which meant that at least a few of them had to be hanging around somewhere. There could be worse things too.

They were going down, looking for the dungeons that Cynder recalled being under the fortress. After almost twenty minutes of searching they found what they were looking for.

Cynder hadn't recalled exactly what the prison cells had looked like, but she'd been expecting something miserable and sinister.

Certainly the architecture was sinister, as it had been throughout the whole castle, and this place was sparsely decorated, but it wasn't nearly as bad as Cynder had thought it would be. The two girls walked down a grand set of stairs until they reached the bottom level of the fortress. The dungeon was made up of four paths in a huge square, there were doors evenly spaced along the outside walls and huge barred cage cells off the inside wall of the square, with the stairs down on one corner of the square.

They did a full loop of the area, just to make sure there was nothing else. All of the doors to the rooms were open, and while the rooms were smaller and sparser then the one Cynder and Ember had been locked in they were all still nice, clean and fairly comfortable. They peeked inside each door as they passed. The doors had no handles on the insides.

Ember was no longer looking nearly so tense, she walked with her head held high, her tail was down and it slid over the dark stone of the floor. The pink dragoness gave Cynder a smile.

"You match the floor and walls." She kept her voice low, but that she'd spoken at all said a great deal about how much calmer she was feeling.

Cynder looked down at her jet black scales, and then nodded. "I guess I do. I wonder if that was part of the design plans for this place."

Ember shrugged. "Maybe." She smiled as she thought of something new to talk about. "Do you think that you technically own this fortress? It is _Cynder's_ fortress after all. It's bigger than any of the homes in Warfang, and if you did then you'd be rich. It's really-" Ember's mouth snapped shut as the girls reached a corner and heard a sound from beyond it.

Cynder gestured for Ember to stay still, and then she inched forwards. Ember pressed herself up against the wall, scared, but ready to leap out and help Cynder if she needed to. Cynder prowled around the corner, and then stopped, tilting her head. She used her tail blade to beckon Ember over to her, and the pink dragoness cautiously slinked out of hiding.

"It's just a troll." Cynder sounded relieved.

Ember looked at the creature, it was securely held in an enormous barred cell, she wasn't too worried by it either, but she still wasn't happy about its presence.

The troll was orange, huge, hairy, and looked as if it was made of stone and dry moss. It looked at them quietly, not seeming to care much about its visitors.

Ember's head was just slightly lower than the beast's eye level. Cynder was slightly shorter, had she stood with ladylike posture, she would have measured up to about the troll's chin. Ember glanced at Cynder's catlike ready stance and resolved to ask the black dragoness about the way that she comported herself sometime in the near future.

Considering their wings and tails both of the girls were bigger than the creature, but its massive bulky body would have far outweighed either of them. Dragons were built to fly, while the troll certainly was not. It was intimidating to Ember, but far from terrifying.

"It's in a cage." Ember said, reluctantly stating the obvious. "So we're safe."

"If it roars it could attract guards, or even Malefor. However… it's not hurting anyone and it doesn't look aggressive; we might as well just leave it here." Cynder looked at Ember and the pink dragoness nodded agreement.

"Let's move on quickly, though." She completed Cynder's thought.

The two of them briskly checked the cells opposite the troll's cage, and then they gladly walked out of the creature's line of sight.

* * *

"Whew…" Ember sighed with relief. "That was the third scariest thing that I've ever seen."

"Really?" Cynder looked curious. Trolls were big and often quite violent, but hardly threatening to a grown dragon, even if that dragon was still relatively young like Cynder and Ember were. "What were the two other things?"

Ember looked at the black dragoness, about to answer, and then paused, mouth slightly open, for a few moments. "Actually I think I'll need to count again. I forgot to put you on the list."

Cynder glanced away in embarrassment. "Me?"

Ember giggled at Cynder's reaction. "Well… yes. At the moment the list goes: Magmar, Cynder, Malefor. Oh yes, then there was this one crazy grublin that flew into my face while we were at Shattershelf. Then there's the Golem, which I only glimpsed, but it was still really scary, and it had the whole orc army around it at the time."

"Sounds like you can make a decent list." Cynder said. She felt unsure if she should be flattered or upset at being so high on the list. She'd hoped that she and Ember were beginning to become close friends, and that they could trust each other. "You know… I don't want to scare you, Ember."

"Oh you're not _always_ scary. But a few times you've been totally terrifying." Ember smiled and nudged Cynder with her wing. "I'm not scared of you anymore."

"That's not too bad then. I like being scary when I want to be." Cynder returned the nudge with one of her own.

Ember nodded enthusiastically. "The troll is _way_ down the list, now that I think about it. In fact I'm hardly scared of it at all. Especially not when you're here with me."

Cynder smiled. "Thanks."

They walked in silence for a few seconds before Cynder continued speaking.

"I never had nice memories of this place before, but looking at it now I am rather tempted to own it. It'd be satisfying to be the queen of my very own castle."

Ember nodded. "It's a bit isolated, but that just means you'd get lots of privacy and few unwanted guests."

The two of them stopped at a room that seemed as if it had been occupied recently. The furniture had all been wrecked, and a lot of it had been burned.

"Do you think someone was attacked here?" Ember asked fearfully.

Cynder nudged the door open; it had been scratched from the inside. There were a series of long deep grooves at about Cynder's shoulder height. "On the contrary I think that someone didn't like living in a cell. A fire dragon, by the looks of it. She indicated the smashed and burned table, bed and bookshelves." She traced one of the claw marks. "Maybe a dragoness, but I'm just guessing about that."

Ember nosed around the cell for a few moments, and then she shook her head. "I'm not seeing anything of importance." She sniffed the air. "And I don't smell anything either, just smoke."

"I think that they're gone, whoever they are. We should move on."

Ember nodded and re-joined her companion back out in the corridor. They kept on walking.

Ember looked at Cynder, again noticing that she had to look down at the black dragoness. "Cynder?"

"Yes?"

"Have you thought much about the way you walk?"

Cynder blinked at her, raising her head slightly as she replied. "The way I'm walking now? No, not really. It's just what feels natural, it's comfortable and it keeps me alert."

"You have your head down really low and your wings are slightly open. It's really cool that you walk so gracefully and quietly, but it also makes you look like you're about to attack someone."

"Maybe I am about to attack someone." Cynder smiled.

Ember laughed. "You certainly look ready to fight. It's just an unusual way of walking."

Cynder shrugged. "I do have other ways of walking."

"What do you mean?"

"I know how to walk like Imperia does. You know, with the hip swish and tail swaying and all of the slinky movements."

"You can actually _do_ that?" Ember looked at her, quite impressed. "It takes so much practice! And it's way too embarrassing to practice sexy walking while there's anyone around who could see you doing it."

Cynder laughed. "That's true. It does make you feel a bit self-conscious when you first try it in front of someone."

"Can I see?"

Cynder blushed. "Sure." She raised her head and tail, folded her wings, and sashayed as she walked for a few metres, involving her whole body in the familiar sinuous movements. She placed her feet gracefully and deliberately, swaying with each step.

Ember watched her with admiration. "That walk looks so good on you!"

Cynder smiled proudly. "Thanks Ember. Imperia taught me, but I never really saw a point to this sort of walking before."

"What about with Spyro?" Ember asked.

"Well yes. I accidently did it in front of him a few days after we left Warfang, and he said it looked really good, so then I decided that I'd practice a bit more."

"That recently?"

"Yes."

"But you're so good at it. How can you have only had a few days practice?"

"I'd practiced it before, I just never showed it to anyone but Imperia until Spyro saw me."

Ember smiled. "And he liked it?"

"He called me sexy."

"That's good. You deserve it."

"Thanks…" Cynder was surprised by how easily Ember had given that compliment; she hadn't expected it and it made her blush slightly with something other than mere awkwardness. Ember didn't seem to notice her reaction.

The two girls finished their lap of the bottom floor and looked at each other. In their chatting they'd almost forgotten that they were searching for Spyro. Not finding him down below the fortress was worrying.

"I guess we start to work our way up?" Ember asked.

"We have to. But if we do then we'll find Malefor eventually. He might be reading or asleep or something, but if we search every room then we'd end up running straight into him."

"Got it. We avoid Malefor's bedchamber, and the library, and we go to where Spyro is. All we need now is to know where Spyro is."

"I wish there were signs. 'Spyro upstairs, third door on the left.' Or something like that."

"I bet that the signs that we followed would lead us outside and right into the middle of a pack of ape ghosts. Also the signs saying 'Danger, fighting troll cages' would actually direct us to Spyro."

"For someone who looks all sweet and kind you sometimes come up with very wicked ideas." Cynder said, smiling. "Have you ever considered being an evil genius? If you and Imperia had designed this place together then I wouldn't stand a chance. I'd just be wandering around a lovely palace and accidently running into crazy death-traps every few steps."

"But because I didn't design this place… that means that we _do_ stand a chance!" This logic didn't quite satisfy Cynder, but Ember seemed happy with it. "Let's go. I vote that we try some of the most scary places you could have a prisoner, y'know, if you wanted to impress them with being dramatic."

"Like the tower?" Cynder asked.

"Exactly. It was your second guess, after all."

"It's worth a try." Cynder agreed. "That's a good idea Ember."

The two of them began to work their way up the tower, Ember noticed that Cynder had slightly altered her walk. She wasn't quite doing Imperia's sashay, but she was doing a mixture between that and her usual prowl. She looked nice.

* * *

Cynder and Ember went up several staircases before they encountered another living thing. At least, it was probably living; it was hard to tell for sure.

Standing on the stairs above them was a skeletal bipedal creature with large draconic wings. Its posture and body looked unnatural and unsettling.

The creature was staring at one of the walls, but the moment the two dragonesses came into view its gaze locked onto them. It took a step down, its wings scraping on the stairs, or perhaps its joints were scraping together, it was hard to tell.

Cynder hissed softly and stepped forwards, Ember stayed by her side.

"Cynder." The creature rasped at them.

Cynder jumped, she hadn't been expecting that the thing would be able to speak. It resembled an orc with its hunched shoulders and long limbs, and the orcs had no mouths. Grublins and great orcs spoke only in their own weird language, while this creature had said her name. She hissed again, taking a ready stance.

"I know you, Cynder. I saw what you were capable of at Shattershelf."

The black dragoness blinked. The orc creature was talking to her. She'd never talked to an orc creature before. "Do I know you?" She asked cautiously.

"I am called General. And I am the only one of my rank or kind, therefore I am the General. Now you know me, as I know you."

The way that the skeletal creature spoke was strange, it sounded mechanical. Cynder wasn't sure how to respond. She was having trouble detecting emotion in its voice, was it being aggressive?

Ember spoke up, her voice trembling ever so slightly. "We're looking for our… friend." She hesitated for a moment to decide what word to use to describe Spyro. Ember looked at the creature with a hopeful expression.

Cynder very much doubted that this tactic would work, but she kept quiet.

"You seek Spyro. I have no means by which to persuade you to return to your cell, but be advised that there are multiple reasons for why the both of you returning to your cell immediately is the best course of action you can take."

Cynder frowned. "Was that a threat?"

"That was not a threat, it is what I recommend you do."

Cynder snorted. "Not likely."

Ember looked at the General. "Please, you seem like a reasonable creature, certainly more than the grublins and other nasty things. Can't we go to Spyro?"

"I do not wish to fight you, but I will not allow you to do that."

"But he is up these stairs?" Cynder asked, a threatening grin forming on her muzzle, she took a step forwards, expecting the creature to back down. If it had the ability to reason then she could intimidate it.

The general looked at her with little emotion. "Yes."

Cynder stalked straight up the stairs, ignoring that the creature was in her way. It stood its ground, until Cynder's body started to glow with red energy. Then the creature began to look a lot more wary.

"Nothing is going to stop me for getting to Spyro, least of all you. Go away before I kill you."

The General paused. "You can't use the attack you used before, it would kill Ember as well as killing me." It took a step back anyway, and Cynder decided that it was weaker than its unsettling manner and appearance had led her to first believe.

"Firstly, it would only hurt her a lot. Secondly, I have more controlled attacks that are equally deadly, and can be targeted."

The General seemed to consider this for a moment, but Cynder saw the moment it changed its stance and predicted its next move.

The creature lunged at her and Cynder hit it dead on with an orb of red energy.

The General screamed, a sound as disturbing as its appearance, and crashed to the ground. Cynder stepped over it carelessly. It contorted and writhed on the steps, red energy clung to its body and left it almost paralysed.

Ember watched, she looked at Cynder nervously and the black dragoness shrugged.

"I don't want to kill it. It can think. In a while it'll be ok again, and maybe it'll have learned a lesson about getting between me and what I want."

"You certainly sounded like you wanted to kill it." Ember said. "You sounded very nasty." She admitted.

"Sorry. I just wanted to scare it into letting us go." She smiled reassuringly to relax the pink dragoness. "And then I hit it with a fear attack, meaning that it has to let us go past. That's rather neat of me."

Ember smiled hesitantly in return. "So what do we do about this General thing?"

"I don't know. Leave it here?"

"Is that a good idea?"

"I don't want to kill it, and there is no way whatsoever that I am letting that thing come with us, so we don't really have much choice. It'll be unable to walk for at least fifteen minutes, and it'll probably be a day before it's at full power again."

"I don't like this." Ember said reluctantly. She didn't want to be a problem to Cynder, but something about walking away from the General felt deeply wrong to her. It was too cold hearted.

Cynder sighed. "Ok… how about we take it somewhere and lock it in a room?"

Ember nodded. "It's because of me that we can't leave it lying here, so I'll do it. You keep going to Spyro, ok?"

Cynder hesitated. "Are you sure?"

"Of course. Like you said it won't be at full strength for a while. I can handle it with fire if I have to, and I can run away from orcs if they try to swarm me in numbers I can't defeat. Plus if I meet Malefor then I can keep him busy. You go and free Spyro, I'll deal with this."

Cynder nodded and continued up the stairs. The General was probably the most dangerous thing in the castle, aside from Malefor, but she didn't relax. She arrived at the top of the stairs and found that they led to nothing. There was an opening where Cynder instinctively knew that a platform ought to be, but the platform itself was far above her. She looked up at its underside and growled in annoyance. Apparently the platform had already gone up.

She went down the stairs until she found a narrow window. It was raining and stormy outside, she saw water pouring past the window. Hopefully it wasn't too cold. She turned to smoke and slipped out the window, her scales were rapidly covered by drops of rain.

The temperature was tolerable and she began to fly upwards to the top of the fortress tower. She was going to find Spyro.

* * *

Ember looked at the General, it had stopped thrashing around, which was a relief. She approached it cautiously and shook its shoulder gently. The General groaned and looked at her, its gaze was resigned.

"Why are you still here? Kill me, or damage me so I can't follow you."

"I don't want to kill you. I'm going to take you to a cell and lock you up. Malefor will let you out, but if I get the chance then I'll come back and let you out myself."

"Kindness?" The General looked at her doubtfully.

"I'm just trying to be nice. Can you get up?" Ember stepped back slightly.

The General tried to rise, it growled to itself as it used all of its strength, but it wasn't able to stand.

Ember looked at it with sympathy, she took a deep breath to give herself confidence, and then she stretched out her wing towards it. The General stared.

"Lean on my wing." Ember said, the creature looked at her with confusion, and then it did as Ember suggested, grasping Ember's wing and using it to support itself.

Ember shuddered slightly; the General's skin was rough and felt like stone. Her wing was quite sensitive, and she didn't like having the creature leaning on it. The general noticed that she was reluctant, but didn't say anything.

Ember helped the General to limp down the stairs. It was clearly weakened by the fear attack Cynder had hit it with. She reached a corridor, she could go left, right, or continue down the stairs. The pink dragoness hesitated and the General pointed down the stairs.

"Cells are that way."

Ember frowned. "Why should I trust you?"

"You have no reason to. But if you wish to lock me up then you would be best off to go down the stairs."

Ember reluctantly went down the stairs. She had been planning to go that way anyway.

The stairs ended with another two way corridor, the General pointed left and Ember went that way. They'd walked partway down the corridor before a small group of orcs walked out in front of them, Ember froze, the orcs turned and saw her.

Some of them just stood there, while others moved forwards as if to attack her. Ember bared her teeth, ready to fight. She could take down a few orcs.

"Halt!" The General raised a hand, it spoke aloud, but the real command was given telepathically through its mind. The orcs obediently stopped. The General used its mind to give them further commands. 'I will speak, acknowledge me when I am done speaking then stand by for further commands.'

It looked at Ember. The pink dragoness looked back at it and spoke bravely. "Make them go away, tell them I'll fight them if I have to!" Her voice trembled very slightly.

"Orcs, do not attack the pink dragoness under any circumstances. Tell all others of this order, but do not tell Malefor anything for an hour." The orcs all bowed in acknowledgement. The General glanced back at Ember. "I can't keep a secret from him for long, but I can give you some time."

"Umm… thankyou." Ember said, made uncertain by what she thought was a generous action. The General nodded and looked back at the orcs, giving them slightly different commands to the ones it had said aloud.

'Keep a distance, but keep watch. Do not interfere unless my life is in danger. Inform Malefor that I have Ember under control and she shall not present a problem.' It returned to speaking aloud, giving commands mentally that matched up with its words. "Now leave and do as I have commanded."

The orcs dispersed, leaving Ember and the General alone in the corridor. Ember looked at the creature with surprise, but there was also gratitude in her eyes.

"Thanks for that."

"You are welcome. I thank you in turn for your civility."

The General indicated a room for them to go through, directing Ember through the fortress.

Ember watched the General, no longer quite so fearful of it.

"Are we enemies?" She asked.

"I have no ill will towards you." It told her.

"And I don't think I have any for you either."

The two of them arrived at a smaller room, the General pointed at the door.

"You may lock me in here."

Ember nodded. "Sure." She walked them into the room and looked around.

The General had one of its hands below her wing and it began to charge up an orb of dark magic. Ember didn't notice what was going on; she looked at the General with a slight smile.

"Can you walk now?"

It took a step towards her, cautiously taking its weight off her wing. "I think so…"

"That's good. I'd better go and find Cynder and Spyro. They're probably fine, but I'd hate to cause a disaster by having them need to come looking for me."

"Wait…" The General needed a few more moments to gather its energy. "I would like to tell you something…"

Ember cocked her head to the side in curiosity. "What is it?"

"I've only been alive for a single week."

The dragonesses eyes widened. "Really? But you're not like a baby."

The General chuckled slightly, the sound was creepy but Ember didn't really notice. "Malefor's mental processes and memories have become mine. I am a subsection of his personality."

"That's… I'm not sure what to say."

"What I'm trying to tell you is that I'm not blindly following Malefor's orders. I have only memories of Imperia, I have never met her or talked to her, and she may not even know I exist. But I know what Malefor thinks of her and I have reached my own decisions. Imperia is a voice of reason, of kindness and warmth. I am an unnatural thing, perhaps even an abomination, yet I still admire what Imperia is to Malefor. I am trying to help her."

Ember thought over the General's words with fascination. "Does Malefor fancy Imperia?"

The General blinked at her, caught slightly off guard by the question. This pink dragoness was very odd if that was the most important question on her mind, or perhaps that was normal for dragons that weren't Malefor. "That's not something that I'm willing to tell you, I apologise. Now, you should lock me in and go to Spyro and Cynder."

"You're right."

Ember tucked up her wing; she turned to go towards the door, taking her eyes of the General as she did so. The skeletal creature staggered forwards, still weak, and pressed its hands against the back of her head.

Ember let out a yelp, her body jerked, and then she collapsed.

The General stood over her, using that magic had taken a lot of its energy. The pink dragoness was knocked out; the General checked her to make sure that she was still fine.

It limped to the door and locked it, trapping Ember inside. It felt bad about tricking her like that. Ember was naïve and incautious, she was far too trusting.

The General sighed. That was Ember out of the way. Hopefully she would be safe now from whatever disaster was going to happen on the top of the tower.

It was what Imperia would have done… probably.

One thing was certain, there was going to be a disaster.

* * *

The world around Spyro turned purple; the rain paused in the air around the tower. He gritted his teeth, he'd used dragon time more in these past few hours then he ever had before in his life and it was taking a lot of effort.

Malefor had reluctantly left, there was a fire dragoness who he had captured during the siege of Shattershelf and who he needed to release. He'd claimed that he would return immediately, but he had been gone for quite some time.

Spyro's practice was having an effect; he could tell that it was. He could see that the rain was slower now than it ever had been before. It was barely moving at all. He was getting better at using his power.

He couldn't tell how long he was lasting, but it felt like he was able to maintain the effect for longer.

After a time he couldn't keep it up any more and he allowed the world to return to its normal speed. He was panting slightly from the exertion, even though it hadn't taken any of his mana or his physical stamina.

Spyro knew that he still had to do better. He was using this time to reflect and reconsider. There was no point in just wasting the hours that he had while imprisoned here.

Malefor was central in his thoughts. Spyro looked back over the previous days, trying to find where he and Cynder had made mistakes that allowed Malefor to defeat them so effectively. It was difficult, everything that they had done had been exactly what Malefor wanted, but it had also always been the right thing to do when they had done it.

They'd done everything as well as they could have done, and Malefor had still outmanoeuvred them. There was nothing that could be done about that now, and in the future Malefor would probably be capable of doing it again. He was simply too clever, all of his moves up until now had been bold but incredibly effective, there seemed to be no way to take him down.

Outwitting Malefor and thwarting his plans was practically hopeless, he was just too good at making them. It reminded Spyro of playing chess against Seizo, the young earth dragon was similarly cunning and he had only twice lost to Spyro. Once when they had been playing a joke match and Spyro had started with a massive advantage, and once when Seizo had actually tried but still ended up losing. Seizo only ever made one plan to win a chess match, but it was always so adaptable that it could be seriously damaged and still be enough to bring him to victory. Like Malefor Seizo tended to guide his opponent into position and then sweep them away in a decisive finishing move.

The only time Spyro had ever won was when he had been fortunate enough to block Seizo's final moves, he hadn't really seen it coming, but once it had come Spyro had managed to defend himself for long enough to survive the next few turns. Seizo had then been without a plan and had lost several of his best pieces. Spyro had managed to counterattack and win the game.

That was now the essence of Spyro's plan for any other time he found himself up against Malefor. He had to play defensively, wait for Malefor to commit to an attack, and then survive the attack for long enough to turn the tables.

If he and Cynder had been able to survive Malefor's final move, if they had have escaped him when he came after them during the siege of Shattershelf, then they could have gained momentum and totally changed the dynamic of their game against Malefor. They could have united the Warfang dragons with the Shattershelf dragons and used their combined force to smash Malefor's plan into splinters and force him to start again with fewer resources.

But they hadn't been able to cope with the end of Malefor's plan, Spyro had been captured, Cynder had been seriously weakened, and everything had fallen apart.

Next time would be different. Malefor was treating his plans like they were games of chess, and he was his own best piece. If Spyro was strong enough to beat Malefor, or if he was at least strong enough to not _lose_ , then he would have a chance at being the one in control, not the helpless prisoner.

It was for this reason that Spyro was practicing his dragon time repeatedly. Dragon time was perhaps not Malefor's greatest weapon, but it was certainly the one that he relied on the most. If Spyro and Cynder together could maintain dragon time for as long as Malefor did then they would have a much better chance of being able to escape him if they needed to. Malefor arranged fights that he was certain of winning, but if he had to keep on arranging more and more fights then eventually he'd make a mistake and end up in a fight where he could lose.

Spyro breathed deeply and concentrated, feeling the world slow down around him. He glanced around, smiling. This felt like progress, and it was satisfying.

As he looked out at the horizon he saw a glow starting. It was purple, and extremely bright. Spyro frowned, watching it, then realised that he was looking at lightning.

The lightning, tinted purple by Spyro's dragon time, traced a jagged path down towards the ground. It wasn't a full lightning strike, just the electricity trying to find a grounded connection. Spyro was fascinated, he knew from Volteer how lightning worked, about how it needed to find a connected path to whatever it was going to strike, but he'd never seen it moving this slowly. Even with Volteer's control the electricity guardian couldn't fully recreate this.

The forerunning electricity reached the ground somewhere, and Spyro watched as a blazing streak of purple lightning leapt between the clouds and the ground. He watched the lightning hang there in the sky for what felt like long minutes, before it gradually faded away. Spyro grinned at the sight; he was glad that he'd chosen that moment to use his power. He relaxed his control of dragon time, sighing.

Eventually he'd be able to survive a fight against Malefor, even if he wasn't likely to win.

Spyro looked around the clouds, the sky was a swirling mass of chaos and rain; there wasn't much visibility. But he did spot something out there, a dark figure moving quickly.

Spyro watched it circle, it was very fast. At first he thought it was Malefor, but Malefor had never bothered to circle the tower before landing in the past. He felt a faint twinge of hope, maybe it was Cynder. He tracked the shape as it looked rapidly around the tower, and the moment he saw it arc upwards in a graceful movement and sweep towards him he knew that it had to be her. Only a wind dragon moved like that.

The dragon vanished above the tower for a moment, Spyro waited for them to come down and hardly a second later one of the large sheets of glass was shattered as Cynder dove through it.

She landed with catlike grace, teeth bared in a snarl of challenge. Her wings were half spread and her tail was slashing the air threateningly. Her eyes flicked around, and when she spotted no danger Spyro clearly saw her release a breath she'd been holding, for a moment she showed just how exhausted she was, but as her eyes met Spyro's the weariness was overcome by excitement.

Spyro stared as the black dragoness uncoiled from her pose on the platform in front of him, a smile of pure relief growing on his face. She ran towards him, he moved as far towards her as his chains allowed him to.

"Spyro!"

"Cynder!"

Cynder laughed in gladness. "I found you!" She exclaimed, she was only a few metres from him when she hit an invisible force field. The force field was created by symbols on the ground and formed a bubble around Spyro. The impact made her grunt and stagger back. Spyro watched her with concern.

"Malefor left defences, just be careful."

Cynder laughed derisively. "His magic can't stand up to the Dragonslayer." She demonstrated her point by drawing the spear out of nowhere and, with one smooth sweep, slashing a massive gap in the force field.

Cynder flicked the spear tip out at the two symbols nearest to her, disrupting them and causing the bubble of energy to vanish. She controlled herself enough to not immediately keep running to Spyro, instead she reached out with the spear towards him, testing for any other defences.

When she found nothing Cynder threw the Dragonslayer aside and flung herself towards Spyro. The spear vanished the moment it left her paws, and there was nothing else to stop Cynder from wrapping Spyro in the tightest embrace that she could manage, which was exactly what she did.

Spyro grunted at the impact when Cynder grabbed him, then he wrapped his head and foreleg around her, returning the hug. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you." He said, burying his face in her wings and holding her close.

"About as glad as I am to see you." Cynder responded softly.

"Point taken. I really should have thought of that before speaking." Spyro chuckled slightly, he stepped back and gently dragged Cynder with him; this gave him a little bit more room to move in his chains and allowed him to hug her more firmly.

Cynder purred in contentment as she felt Spyro's warm scales against her body. "I've really missed you."

Spyro didn't respond; he just squeezed Cynder slightly.

"So what's been going on?" Cynder detached from him slightly so she could look at him, admiring him. She'd hadn't forgotten how handsome he was but seeing him in person again was far better than memory, and she could see the wonderful light of warmth and love in his bright purple eyes. Spyro arched his neck so that their gazes met, he gave her a smile.

"Not much, I've been hanging around up here for a few days. I've talked to Malefor and to the General, which is a winged orc creature that you might have met. It's more friendly then it looks, and it was interesting to talk to. It told me about how orcs are made, which is really quite fascinating, I should try making some, non aggressive ones of course. Oh, and seriously, do you ever use doors?"

Cynder blinked at that. She hadn't ever thought about Spyro creating orcs, she wondered if they'd be different to the ones Malefor made. There were more important questions for right now, but she filed the idea away for later. She glanced around the tower. "What doors?"

"This is the second time you've smashed the roof of this tower. If I didn't mention that then Sparx would never forgive me." Spyro informed her.

"But I still don't see any doors." Cynder said innocently.

"The sides of the tower are open, you could have flown in."

"How boring." Cynder laughed. Then her face grew more serious as she again felt worry about whether Spyro was alright. "What did Malefor talk to you about? He replied 'Philosophy', which didn't really satisfy me."

"Wait, you talked to Malefor too?"

"Barely. He just said we were his guests, that you were ok and he wouldn't harm us. Then he locked us in a room."

"Us?" Spyro tilted his head, then his eyes widened. "Oh! Right! Ember! What happened? Is she ok?"

"She was ok the last time I saw her, actually she was great."

"Great?"

"She's taking the General to a cell, I took it down and we didn't know what to do with it, so she volunteered to deal with it. She's been really brave." Cynder smiled, thinking about Ember and feeling a surge of gratitude.

"She has?" Spyro looked puzzled. "I've certainly missed a lot; I thought that you and Ember couldn't stand each other."

"She saved my life, and I think that she'll be more confident in the future."

"She's always been confident." Spyro pointed out. "But her type of confidence is not a nice trait."

"She was childish." Cynder said, feeling slightly protective of Ember now and not wanting Spyro to think badly of the pink dragoness. "She didn't understand why what she did wasn't working. So she kept trying to be persistent. I don't think she'll be like that in the future."

Spyro looked at her in surprise. "Wow. I wanted the two of you to make up and not fight anymore, but it's kind of startling that it's happened so quickly."

"It feels like it's been forever." Cynder told him. "A lot of stuff has happened."

"I want to hear all about it." Spyro said. "But maybe now's a bad time."

"I think you're right. Ok, I'll get you out of these chains." The Dragonslayer appeared in her paw.

"Wait, Malefor said that doing that might be dangerous."

Cynder paused, the spear tip wavered. "What exactly did he say to you? This is a bad time to talk, but I think it's urgent that I know everything he said. Why shouldn't I let you out?"

"Malefor said that the dark crystal band was keeping my dark side contained, but if it's broken then I'd almost certainly become dark."

"But you don't become dark automatically." Cynder argued. "So why should you this time?"

"My feelings for others, and especially my love for you, have kept me from going dark." Spyro blushed slightly as he said that.

"And I'm here, and I love you too." Cynder smiled. "So it'll be fine to free you, right?"

Spyro didn't respond; he just looked at her, still blushing. He was about to reply, but the words caught in his throat.

"I'm going to… Spyro, what's wrong?" Cynder looked at Spyro as she felt his body go tense, instinctively she knew that he was seeing something bad. She glanced back over her shoulder, and there he was.

Malefor hung in the air above them, the purple dragon looked like he was standing on an invisible platform, but his wings were still spread wide. He looked back and forth between Spyro and Cynder, frowning slightly.

"It seems that I'm just in time."

"In time for what?" Cynder hissed, she unwound her body from Spyro's and took a ready position, the Dragonslayer appeared in her paws; she wasn't going to forget about her weapon this time.

"In time to talk with you." Malefor said cautiously.

"Now you want to talk? Sure, the three of us can talk." Cynder pressed the Dragonslayer against Spyro's neck, the blade rested against the snake charm on his throat. She gave Spyro a slight reassuring smile. "I won't stab you, I promise."

Spyro nodded, but he decided to remain very still, just to be safe.

Cynder began to drag the spear tip over the dark crystal, the snake charm vibrated slightly as if it was about to shatter.

"Wait!" Malefor raised a paw in a placating gesture. "You break that and he'll become Dark Spyro."

Cynder snorted. "As if I'd trust you. I lower the spear and before I know it I'll be caught in another energy shield and _you_ will be pointing it at _me_!"

"Ok Cynder, you win." Malefor spoke calmly, giving no hints about how worried he actually was. "What do you want me to do? I can keep my distance if that would make you feel safer, or I could stand somewhere and let you threaten me with the Dragonslayer."

Cynder shook her head. "Not good enough."

"Ok, I'll leave entirely and Imperia can talk to you, I brought her here in case something like this happened. Imperia?" Malefor looked behind him, and then with growing concern he looked up, left, right, and down. "Imperia?" He looked back at Spyro and Cynder, chuckling slightly. "She was here just a minute ago…"

"You look like you'd rather be somewhere else." Spyro commented.

Malefor nodded. "Admittedly yes, this is hardly going as I had hoped. Cynder, please, just lower the spear and I'll explain everything. Spyro is too dangerous to be released right now."

"Oh so you don't plan to free him? What was the actual plan, again? Right, you plan to destroy his dark side, possibly killing him to do so." Cynder glared at Malefor.

"You're being contrary." Malefor sighed. "I understand, you're still angry about what happened to you; but Cynder, think about it. I'm offering you terms, and as soon as Imperia shows up-" He growled slightly in annoyance that the silver dragoness had chosen this moment to disappear on him. "she'll explain everything. Dark Spyro will not make deals, he will not try to negotiate, he wants the destruction of every single living thing in this world."

"Contrary? Is that what I'm being?" Cynder's voice took on a scornful tone. "All because I'm angry at you? Because I still haven't forgiven you for making me your glorified slave for most of my childhood? Well you're right, I _am_ angry about that, and I _am_ going to free Spyro, just because I can!"

"It's a bad move Cynder, think it through!" Malefor let desperation creep into his voice, hoping that pleading would work were logic had failed.

"I just did, and this is what I decided: I trust Spyro more then I trust you!"

And Cynder swiped the Dragonslayer down, shattering the dark crystal band that had been draining Spyro's magic.

Malefor moved with incredible speed, shooting a fireball directly at Cynder to try to stop her from breaking the crystal, but he was too late. The explosion threw both Cynder and Spyro off their feet, but the crystal was already broken.

Cynder was knocked off balance and fell, but turned the movement into a roll back to her four paws in an instant. She snarled at Malefor, about to spit poison, but a clanging sound caught her attention.

The Dragonslayer had not disappeared as it was knocked out of her grip; the golden spear had hit the floor and skidded away from her, sliding straight towards where Spyro was lying. Cynder could almost see the weapon being drawn towards him as if magnetised. It came to rest as it bumped against his paw, and instinctively the young purple dragon grabbed hold of it.

And then Dark Spyro opened his blazing white eyes.

* * *

 **Expect the next updates soon, very soon.**

 **It's finally time for Dark Spyro to get his song.**

 **-4Dragons**


	36. The Fall Part II: The Purple Dragon

**Chapter 36**

 _ **The** **Fall  
Part II: The Purple Dragon  
~**_

 **I have a long and proud tradition of ending on cliffhangers; I can't help it, I'm afraid. Still I'm posting all of these parts in such rapid succession so you don't need to wait too long.**

 **Now, enough playing around.**

 **Song for this chapter: 'Monster' by Skillet. Many people on this site already know this song or have the band on their list of favourites. If you do then that's great, but even if you've never heard of it I want you to find it and play it. It's the song I've been planning for since chapter three, it's Dark Spyro's song, finally.**

 **The time for playing around is over.**

 **Start the song...**

 **Start the chapter:**

* * *

Spyro's brilliant white eyes narrowed, he turned his head slowly as he looked around. The Dragonslayer hummed in his paw, but he didn't even glance at it.

Chains clinked as he stood, and then he growled. Dark Spyro stalked forwards several steps and the chains groaned as they tried to hold him. With lazy kicks of his four legs Spyro shattered each one. His tail slashed the air violently until it too broke free.

Slowly his wings spread, and darkness shrouded his body.

A storm of energy flickered around him, growing darker with every moment. By the time Spyro had raised his head to stand straight his body was barely visible, a solid centre to the cloud of power he had summoned.

Then his eyes focused on Malefor, and they glowed white hot with hatred. A horrible snarl emerged from his throat as he crouched, and then he lunged straight at the elder purple dragon.

A band of pale metal appeared at Spyro's throat, connected to the tower floor by a cord of green energy. The band pulled Spyro up short a few metres away from its anchoring point, the sheer speed of Dark Spyro's leap caused his body to keep moving forwards even as he was jerked back by his neck.

Spyro's snarl became a strangled gargle as he was caught in a whiplash motion that threatened to break his neck. He fell to the ground in a graceless heap, clearly injured. The darkness around him faded slightly. He did not get up, but he was still breathing raggedly.

Malefor floated down to the platform, keeping a wary distance. Cynder took a step towards him, unsure what to do, but was also held in place. She too was held to the platform by the snake chain.

"What? How is this still here?" She was stunned.

"I never removed the chain binding you two together. I simply deactivated it for a time. I wanted to be sure of being able to trap you again if I needed to." He glanced at Cynder briefly as he explained, then he began to gather his magic. "Now you've forced me to do this. I'm sending the both of you to Convexity for now. Cynder I'll get you out as soon as possible, I swear I will."

Malefor sent his power down into the platform below them and a bright purple circle formed, with a staple trapping Spyro and Cynder at its centre. The chain was hooked to the staple, keeping them held down.

"Everything within the circle will be transported. Spyro shouldn't harm you, even in his current state. His feelings for you are still present."

Power hummed as Malefor charged up his trap. Then the snarling started again.

Spyro staggered back to his feet, the darkness around him shrank but grew more solid as it did, making him look much bulkier then his true form was.

He sacrificed all of his speed and grace for pure power, charging across the platform at Malefor like a bull, but again he was painfully stopped by the snake band. Spyro roared in anger and pain as the metal dug into the scales around his throat. His claws cracked the stone, gouging deep slashes in it as he tried to keep walking. He hissed in fury but was unable to escape, his tail lashed and swiped at the air.

Malefor ignored him, rapidly circling around his trap to where another purple symbol was glowing. He touched this other symbol and the floor within Spyro and Cynder's circle began to turn smoky.

Cynder struggled to remove her chain, but she had no idea how to do it. Spyro grabbed his in his claws and squeezed, but even with his massively increased size and power he still wasn't able to break it.

"I should complement Imperia on her work. Those chains are extraordinary." Malefor had relaxed slightly now that he'd completed the ritual that would send them to Convexity. "I'd complement her right now, if she'd shown up when she was _supposed_ to. And if she had then we wouldn't even be here, because the whole reason I brought her along was to use her to prevent a situation like this from happening." Malefor muttered in annoyance, he glanced around. "Where is she, anyway?"

Spyro's roaring stopped. Malefor instantly looked back at the younger purple dragon, very wary of any change in his mental state.

Dark Spyro's magic was withdrawing, and absorbing into Spyro's scales. His extra bulk vanished as easily as it had come, and when Spyro shook himself his movement was natural and had all of his easy grace.

His white eyes began to dim, but the look on his face remained equally ferocious. The magic wasn't disappearing, it was strengthening him.

Cynder watched in growing horror as the entire cloud of magic soaked into Spyro's body. His scales dulled, losing their bright lustre but not their colour. His eyes dulled from blank white to a fearsome yellow, revealing slit pupils and a savage gleam of triumph.

" _Finally… Freedom."_

Dark Spyro's voice was distorted and changed; it grated against Cynder's ears. It was still recognisably Spyro's voice, which only made the sound more horrible.

"Not for long." Malefor said evenly.

Dark Spyro began to laugh. He raised the Dragonslayer and used it to cut the energy chain. He twirled the spear lazily and then rammed it into the ground, cutting through Malefor's magic and the circle blinked out of existence.

" _You, failure Dark Master, are deluded. Did you think I was a fool?"_ Dark Spyro laughed harder, staggering slightly as he lost his balance.

Malefor stepped forwards. "The Dark Master is a failure, and I destroyed him just like I'll destroy you. Up until now I have been, all modesty aside, a remarkable success."

" _You talk bravely, but you can't hide your fear from me."_ Spyro pointed the spear at him threateningly. _"I'm stronger than you are!"_

"You're strong, certainly, but I don't think you're that strong yet, Dark Spyro. This is your first time in full control, the first time you've reached this level of power, you can still be defeated."

Dark Spyro turned his back on Malefor carelessly, he spun in a circle, laughing softly now. As he moved the wind swept under him and lightly threw him into the air. The Dragonslayer flashed gold as he twirled it, smoothly transferring it to his rear left paw and holding it with that. He landed gracefully, once again facing Malefor, several metres away.

" _I like freedom, I like it a lot. Freedom to fly and play and kill, the only thing that's stopping me is you."_

Malefor didn't respond. Spyro again used the wind to leap across the platform to the opposite side.

" _This is fun! This mind is marvellous, very well educated; it has so much potential, and many nice little tricks already assimilated. Your memories and skills would be even better, but Spyro's are more than adequate. Also Dark Spyro is a dreadful name. I want a new one. Maybe… Doom? No that's hopelessly cliché."_

"You're growing in power rapidly." Malefor said. "But you can still be stopped." Dark Spyro cocked his head thoughtfully.

" _Are you going to try yet another fallback plan or clever little trap?"_

"I always have tactics, but I had nothing prepared for this eventuality. I'll just have to take you down myself."

" _So now we fight? Single combat between the two purple dragons of legend! Surely a battle that will go down in history."_ He grinned. _"When was the last time two dragons like us fought?"_

"Only a few days ago; when I fought and defeated Spyro and Cynder." Malefor said dismissively.

" _I am NOT SPYRO!"_ Fury burned white hot within the dark dragon.

Dark Spyro blazed forwards with a roar, using wind to accelerate. Malefor dove out of the way, but Spyro turned in mid-air and bore down on him, his claws flashed with lightning as he swung for Malefor's head.

The elder purple dragon caught Dark Spyro's attack, expertly deflecting the lightning and then turning it back on its creator. Spyro yowled in pain and Malefor swatted him out of the air, slamming Dark Spyro into the ground with enough force to crack the platform.

Spyro was barely slowed down, he slashed his tail forcing Malefor to leap into the air and then he surged upwards, shooting a hail of icy needles at the other dragon.

Malefor glowed with heat, melting the needles before they hit, and responded by hitting Spyro with a wall of wind, throwing him backwards.

There was a pause. Spyro's smile grew.

" _I haven't lost any mana, I could do this forever. Or I could try something bigger."_

Dark Spyro's body glowed as he focused a massive amount of energy, he opened his mouth and boiling heat emerged from within.

Malefor cloaked himself in a blue bubble an instant before Dark Spyro spat a massive fireball at him, the explosion was deafening, Cynder covered herself with her wings and used wind to shield her scales from the fire. But as the flames cleared Malefor stood completely unharmed.

Dark Spyro snarled in anger and hurled himself at Malefor again, slashing at him repeatedly with the ferocity of a wild beast. Malefor received several cuts on his foreleg as he defended from Spyro's attack, even the slightest glancing strikes left deep wounds. Dark Spyro's strength was unnatural, and any blow that found its intended target would be devastating.

Normally dragons had to be both skilled and lucky to hurt another dragon using only melee attacks, only the most devastating blows would actually be strong enough to cut a dragons tough scales or break their hard bones, but the sheer level of power Spyro now had was completely changing the dynamic of the fight. Malefor couldn't afford to be directly hit by anything.

Malefor didn't like melee combat, indeed Volteer could probably have outfought him, and he wouldn't have stood any chance against Terrador. His combat skills were based around his strengths; defensiveness, deception, trickery and a vast arsenal of powerful magical abilities. He relied heavily on wind magic, forced to constantly retreat from Spyro's aggressive assault.

Dark Spyro was new to using wind magic, and while he was talented with all magic he emphasised power over control, using it only to close distance with Malefor to continue his attack.

Malefor rapidly took advantage of Dark Spyro's aggression, timing an earth shot to knock the younger dragon out of the air, he caught Spyro across the face with a wild tail slash as Spyro fell, and used that contact to create another shockwave which slammed Spyro back to the ground. He followed up with a series of lightning strikes, reasoning that Spyro hadn't yet learned how to manipulate lightning defensively while under such pressure. He may have been correct, but Spyro rapidly protected himself with clouds of dust instead, diverting the attack with earth and giving himself time to recover.

He rose to his feet, growling at Malefor and taking a threatening pose to buy himself a moment to think. He had less experience and skill, and he didn't yet know the full limits of Malefor's strength or endurance so it was wise to assume that he didn't have much advantage there. Malefor had been able to heal himself in the past, a trick Dark Spyro didn't yet know, so there was another disadvantage. Currently his main advantage was that Malefor thought he was made a savage beast by his transformed magic, when in truth his mind had lost none of its cunning.

Malefor surrounded himself with lightning, and then a second Malefor stepped out of him. Both were physically indistinguishable and there was no way to tell whether the real Malefor had stepped out or stayed still.

With identical smiles the two Malefors began to circle, flanking the dark purple dragon. Dark Spyro growled, his head flicking back and forth between them. Malefor was playing him as if he was stupid, but it was in his interests to keep the elder dragon thinking that he had no sense of strategy.

Dark Spyro hesitantly chose one of the Malefors and shot shards of ice at him, but the purple dragon evaded the attack. Spyro reached out with lightning, a wide area attack that swamped both Malefors in lightning. One protected himself, the other didn't.

Spyro turned to the Malefor that had protected himself, the elder dragon tilted his head in amusement. "Well spotted."

Spyro again hurled himself at Malefor, but he took care to be even more erratic and unpredictable this time, forcing Malefor to act defensively. The older dragon liked to understand his opponent before he struck, and would wait to see what weaknesses Spyro had that he could capitalize on.

Dark Spyro slashed furiously at Malefor, trying to tear through his increasingly strained defence. The lightning copy vanished as Malefor put all of his focus into staying alive. Malefor realised that he couldn't keep the melee combat up, he barely ever used his wings, tail or hind legs to strike with and using only his forelegs to fight with he was being overwhelmed. As usual he tried to solve his problem using magic, hitting Spyro with an earth shot to knock him off balance.

Spyro took the hit full on, he'd been expecting it, and he also expected Malefor to then go on the attack. The older dragon knew he couldn't heal, and would try to wound his legs until Spyro could no longer fight. His assumption was correct; Malefor's claws flashed as he swiped viciously, making Dark Spyro hiss in pain.

But Malefor didn't have Spyro's increased strength, and his blows merely stung. Normal dragons rarely hurt each other by striking. Spyro leaned into the attacks and they deflected off his hard scales.

The other Spyro had seen Cynder use this same tactic, when she'd fought an ice dragoness who was an expert at defensive fighting. She's allowed herself to be attacked by the ice dragon in order to prepare a counterattack that was devastating enough to finish the fight.

Imperia had once summed the idea up with a simple piece of advice: "If you can't be sure you'll get past your enemy's defences; then just wait until their defences are lowered before you strike."

At the time she'd been talking about assassination techniques, but the concept was just as true in the heat of battle as it was outside of a fight. Dragons were careless in combat all the time, if you encouraged that weakness and waited to take advantage of it… well… you could do just as well as Cynder had done when she'd used the tactic.

Spyro's grin was pure bloodlust and his eyes were cold and calculating. All the fury he had was perfectly controlled by his focused cunning, fire and ice melded together with the strengths of both and none of the weaknesses.

Malefor's claws hit his chest, and Spyro moved forwards with a straight jab that had all of his weight and strength behind it.

His clenched paw hit Malefor's exposed snout, and bone smashed with a wet crunch.

Malefor screamed and reeled back, his entire upper jaw had been destroyed by that single strike. Spyro roared in triumph and rammed him, and then his paw slashed up going for Malefor's chest.

Malefor's eyes were wide with shock and pain, he screamed again in agony, and for a brief moment felt genuine fear for the first time in his living memory. Milliseconds later his mind kicked into overdrive, Dark Spyro was coming for him again. The dark purple dragon's eyes were blazing with triumph and hatred, his teeth were bared and ready to bite.

Malefor spat blood in Spyro's eye, he had plenty of it available. Spyro yelped, totally surprised by the response, Malefor followed up by spitting fire. The fire came out bloody red, but it still burned hot and it was Spyro's turn to howl in pain.

Malefor dove to the side, barely evading another wild strike; he grabbed a cracked fragment of stone from the platform that had been broken off by a previous impact. He whirled around, the stone in his paw. He looked at Spyro's head, but he hesitated for a split second and in that time Dark Spyro had moved and the opportunity was lost. He instead focused on Spyro's rear leg, the one that still held the Dragonslayer spear. He pressed his paw against Spyro's upper leg and then accelerated the stone to massive speed with his wind magic.

The stone struck with the force of a cannonball, but with far more focus. It punched straight through Spyro's leg, doing massive damage to his muscles and leaving a bloody hole.

Dark Spyro's tail swung again and Malefor threw himself back to evade it. He staggered to his feet, tears of pain in his eyes. He focused magic on the wreck that had been made of his face, hissing slightly with relief as the pain dimmed. Bright purple light surrounded the wound and he felt his bones expand back into their natural places. His upper jaw reforming itself.

Dark Spyro was not so lucky. He wiped blood from his eye and his face hadn't been damaged by the fireball, but the wound in his leg was severe and bled heavily.

He couldn't put weight on his back leg, it wouldn't support him. He growled in annoyance and pain as he bent down and grabbed the Dragonslayer.

Dark Spyro spun the weapon, snarling. He stretched his rear leg, testing its reduced movement, then he saw Malefor healing himself and his eyes narrowed. _"I want to do that!"_

He almost sounded childish as he said it, but the fury in his voice was only made sharper. He stood on his wounded leg, it would have been immensely painful but Dark Spyro seemed not to care, blood dripped, forming a pool around him. His wound was healing unusually fast, Malefor could see it happening, at its current rate the injury would heal within an hour, but until then it would slow him down.

" _You could have done a lot worse."_ Dark Spyro observed.

"You could have too, why did you strike my muzzle, not my eyes?"

" _You know things, things I want to know. Learning them by myself would take too long, taking them from you is simpler."_

Malefor nodded thoughtfully. "You know that I spared you, but there are always more stones to be picked up, do you really think you can defeat me?"

Dark Spyro chuckled and held up the Dragonslayer. Malefor looked at it warily.

"Ah. I see."

Dark Spyro growled in satisfaction, he prowled forwards, the spear tracing threatening circles in the air.

Malefor decided to step up his power level in response, Spyro knew little about the powers a purple dragon possessed beyond their elements and their Dragon Time. Dragon Time might help, but Malefor was cautious of trying to use it before Spyro did. However he had other options.

Spyro held the spear in his right forepaw, meaning he had only three legs to stand on. His rear left leg was barely functioning, meaning that in reality he had only two.

That was a considerable weakness.

Malefor reached out with one of his favourite abilities, sending a tendril of glowing purple energy to wrap around Spyro's wounded leg and yank it violently.

Dark Spyro yelped, falling, but a moment later the Dragonslayer cut through the tendril and he staggered back upright.

" _Sneaky…"_

Malefor hit Spyro with a wall of purple energy, staggering him, Spyro spun the Dragonslayer defensively, but Malefor simply wrapped wind around him and used it to smash Spyro into one of the pillars at the edge of the roof. Spyro had been ready for more purple attacks, but the wind couldn't be seen and therefore was not expected.

He created stone chains and wrapped them around Spyro, and then he began to cool the temperature rapidly around his opponent. Malefor began to heat his claws, preparing to raise the temperature around Spyro once it had gotten cold enough. The rapid fluctuation in temperature should knock Dark Spyro out without risking severe damage.

However Spyro did not cooperate, he flexed his wings and multiple chains shattered. Sensing the chilling temperature around him Spyro responded by glowing with heat. He raised his own body temperature at a slower speed, preventing Malefor from finishing his plan, and then Spyro gathered dark energy and blasted the remaining stone chains into fragments.

Spyro rose again, he growing stronger with every moment, he was beginning to experiment with how to use purple energy in the way that Malefor did, however his energy was dark, violent and smoky. He hadn't even realised what Malefor had tried to do, but he knew it had been something meant to take him down and he had no intention of allowing that to happen.

Dark Spyro went back on the attack this time, spitting more massive fireballs. Malefor protected himself with a shield of blue energy. The fire technique gave him total protection from heat and diverted the force of the explosions; he dropped the shield and spun Spyro's fire into several arrows which he shot at the younger dragon. Spyro caught two of the arrows on the Dragonslayer, making the spear blaze with absorbed energy, and he blocked the rest using a cloud of his purple magic.

Dark Spyro opened his maw and dark purple light glowed within, he was going to try to use Convexity. Malefor hooked purple energy around Spyro's horns and jerked him forwards, the beam of pure power narrowly missed him and seared a hole straight through the stone below them, making a hole in the top of the fortress.

Dark Spyro swiped the Dragonslayer around his head to break Malefor's magic, and then he lunged. Malefor created a bubble of purple energy that was proof against all physical and elemental attacks. Spyro bounced off the bubble once, but then he slashed it open with the Dragonslayer and attacked again.

Malefor twisted out of the way of the flaming spear and Spyro slammed into him. Spyro hit Malefor on the side of the skull with a head-butt and in that moment the fight was over.

Malefor stumbled away, stunned by the impact. His head was ringing and there was a blazing pain from his cheek, probably there was a crack in his skull bone. He couldn't find the focus to defend himself properly, he was dazed. His mind raged helplessly, a flow of urgent commands that his body was too slow to respond to.

Spyro swatted Malefor with his wing and the older dragon collapsed on the platform, winded. He tried to rise, but Dark Spyro held him down and then struck him with lightning.

Dark Spyro grinned, panting but looking very happy. _"I win! Now I'll just keep you on the edge of death until I've figured out how to get what I want from you. Hopefully you'll be seeing me again soon."_ Spyro gave him a cheerful wave and raised a paw over Malefor's throat.

"No!"

Even as Dark Spyro swung a streak of silver flashed forwards and knocked his paw aside. Spyro's claws screeched against the stone as he coiled around to see who had interrupted him.

Imperia touched down gracefully on the platform before him.

* * *

 **As usual I'd love to know what you thought of this chapter. Please do leave a review.  
**

 **The next chapter will be up soon. Until then let's let Imperia have her moment of awesomeness, shall we?**

 **-4Dragons**


	37. The Fall Part III: Imperia

**Chapter 37**

 ** _The Fall  
_** ** _Part III: Imperia  
_**

 **I completed Dark Souls Three. The song for this chapter belongs to the final boss of the game, that fight was one of the most incredible gaming experiences I've had.  
**

 **The music for this chapter is Dark Souls 3 OST: The Soul of Cinder**

 **There are two stages to the battle, you will recognise the change in the music between the stages.  
In stage one you fight a boss with abilities that are very like your own, but belonging to a darker version of your character. The music is intimidating, intense and powerful.  
In stage two the music changes, the boss uses new attacks, moves that anyone who played Dark Souls One will find very familiar. The Soul of Cinder takes the power of legend, of Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight, the fallen hero and final boss of the first Dark Souls game. The music is beautiful, yet sad, and victory is a bittersweet feeling.**

 **A twisted version of the hero's character, and the legend who has fallen to darkness. What could more perfectly exemplify Spyro?**

 **I hope you have the song ready, because here we go.**

* * *

Malefor was in no state to intervene, lying on the ground and only barely remaining conscious. Cynder was unable to move more than a few steps in any direction, and while she could have used long rage attacks or even just shouted at them, she didn't know who's side she was on anymore. Did she help Dark Spyro, or did she help Malefor and Imperia? Cynder didn't know.

And so the silver dragoness was alone against the dark purple dragon.

Imperia laughed nervously, unable to fully hide her concern, but she gave Dark Spyro a smile.

"That was a bit close! I hate to interrupt, but you looked like you were about to do something that you'd regret later. And also I didn't want Malefor to die."

Malefor managed a faint glare at the slender dragoness, but then his eyes glazed and his body went limp. Imperia watched him with concern. She stepped over to him and nudged him towards the hole Spyro had blasted in the floor.

" _What's going on?"_ Dark Spyro looked confused.

"Aww, you recognise me Spyro, so I'm sure you can see what's going on." Imperia laughed lightly. "And may I just say that your voice is making me shiver? It's rather intense. I like it." She bumped Malefor over the edge and he vanished from sight, a moment later there was a soft thud from below and she winced. "Sorry about that…" She turned back to Dark Spyro. "You know me, and you know why I'm here. I'm here to keep you safe."

" _What?"_ Dark Spyro faltered, the anger in his eyes faded slightly.

"Oh you've been battered haven't you? Look at those poor wounds!" Imperia looked sympathetic, she stepped forwards, but a growl from Spyro drove her back. "Are you in pain? We should get that leg bandaged."

" _You're doing something. Stop it."_ Dark Spyro spoke warningly.

"You feel it?" Imperia looked at him innocently; her confidence was growing raipdly. "You're getting weaker, aren't you? That's because deep down you don't want to hurt me. Your power is cancelling itself out, you're nowhere near as powerful as you were before you and I started talking."

Dark Spyro growled; he stepped forwards, the Dragonslayer moved to point at Imperia's silver throat. _"You know nothing about me."_

"Oh please, I know everything about you, Spyro dear!" Imperia laughed.

" _I am NOT SPYRO!"_ Dark Spyro leaped forwards, Imperia took a smooth step towards him and grasped his horn in her forepaw, and then she pushed off lightly and flipped acrobatically over his head. Imperia landed gracefully, her head lowered in a passive stance, looking cute and unthreatening.

"Is that a sore subject? I'm sorry." Imperia spoke soothingly. "You must be confused by all of this, I can help you. You know, this is how you defeated the Dark Master. This same self conflict, Malefor was trying to help you back then, just as you're trying to help me now, Spyro. That's why it's so much easier for me to fight you then it was for Malefor to fight you. It's ok Spyro, you know I want what's best for you."

" _You want to kill me!"_ Spyro spat a fireball at the silver dragoness. Imperia used wind to deflect the attack.

"I've seen you do much better when we've done sparring together. That attack wasn't intended to do me any harm at all."

" _Yes it was!"_ Dark Spyro roared in anger and spat another fireball. Imperia again deflected it.

"You want to destroy me superficially, but the real you doesn't."

That comment struck Dark Spyro's nerves. _"This IS the real me!"_ He spat another useless fireball that Imperia sidestepped.

Dark Spyro leaped at her; Imperia slid low, dropping her belly to the floor and sweeping her tail in an arc. Spyro's feet were brushed out from under him and he fell.

"It really isn't. I'm your friend Spyro, and you can't bring yourself to fight me with your full power. Just let me talk to you and everything will be ok. The real Spyro will come back. You'll be gone, but Spyro will remain. Then we get rid of you altogether and bring back the Spyro we all know and love. And don't feel bad about tripping, everyone falls for that low sweep the first time I use it. Then again… Spyro fell for it already, so you have no excuse."

" _Stop talking!"_ Spyro spat lightning at her, Imperia rolled aside with a laugh. He rose to his feet and stalked after her.

"I never stop talking, that's one of the things that make me so fun! You're still aware of Spyro's memories about me; you know why he's fighting to keep you from hurting me. He doesn't want what you want, and he'll stop you."

Dark Spyro charged up a larger surge of electricity, he focused the energy within the Dragonslayer until the spear crackled with power, he leaped forwards into range, but even as he thrust the spear lightning Imperia blurred out of the way of the channelled bolt, her speed was incredible. Spyro whipped around, trying to track her but barely able to keep up.

Spyro responded by widening his beams of attack, no longer bothering with the dragonslayer and instead breathing out clouds of electricity. The conical blasts effected everything within their radius. After several attempts he got lucky and hit her with stray forks of lightning, making Imperia yelp, but she didn't seem hurt or even annoyed.

"I date Volteer, I enjoy a little bit of lightning. It gives me the loveliest tingling in my scales. Although you'll have to forgive me for not being too keen about those big thunderbolts you were throwing around before."

Imperia sashayed around Dark Spyro, confident now in her ability to outmanoeuvre him, and poked him in the side with her tail. Dark Spyro lurched away from her and Imperia giggled.

"Oh that was a love tap! Even if I had a tail blade it wouldn't have hurt you. I'm not stopping you with force Spyro."

" _You're stopping me using the power of friendship?"_ Dark Spyro snarled. _"You betrayed me and Cynder! You're not worth saving!"_ Spyro shot a cloud of ice spikes at her; Imperia fell back out of range of the attack.

"That was a cruel thing to say." Imperia said with a hint of hurt in her voice. "And I know it's not true, because you're still not able to fight me with your full power. If you can hear me Spyro then don't give up, keep fighting the darkness, you're winning!"

Dark Spyro grasped the Dragonslayer in both of his paws, rearing up and swiping at Imperia with it several times. Imperia dodged back and then darted forwards when Spyro overextended. She bumped him with her hip and then used wind to dance away before he could retaliate. Even Imperia's fighting style was flirty.

"Tag!" She laughed. "You know you're not using that spear properly. When you're not in a combat formation you shouldn't use it solely for thrusts and swipes. It's just so limiting." Imperia balanced on her hind legs, spreading her wings for stability and of course for stylish effect. "Hold it in one paw and at a wide angle."

Imperia demonstrated, holding an imaginary spear in a way that would leave her underside exposed to attack.

"Everyone thinks it's a pose done only to look good, and I won't lie, it does indeed look good." She smirked and posed. "But if you think I'm giving you an easy inviting target to attack…"

Imperia pivoted a full circle on her paw, evading an imaginary attack and bringing her paw across to indicate her retaliatory swing, the whole movement was sinuous and smooth.

"You turn your back on your opponent for only a moment, but the spear slashes them before they could take advantage of that. I almost wish I'd taught you about fighting with a spear earlier, although if I had then you might be skilled enough to beat me now, which would be awkward."

Dark Spyro attacked her, sweeping and thrusting the spear, trying to hit the elusive dragoness. Imperia acrobatically dodged and deflected the flurry of strikes without any effort or urgency, she retaliated by poking and nudging him lightly whenever Dark Spyro left himself exposed. There was no point trying to beat Spyro into submission, she instead focused on talking him down, trying to find some way to connect with the purple dragon whose personality had been eclipsed by the darkness.

"The head of the spear is only one of its dangerous parts; the crossguard can be used as a blunt piercing tool capable of penetrating scales or bone, while the haft and butt of the spear make a good quarterstaff. You should change your grip and vary your attacks a lot more. Also wielding it with only your forelegs is very limiting; try using it in your back paw, the uninjured one of course, or with your tail."

She hopped up into the air and fought Dark Spyro from above, gracefully dancing around his attacks, forcing Spyro to chase her in frustration. Imperia allowed him to close in, and then she leapt onto him and pushed off his back, touching down at the edge of the platform. Her wingtips and tail left elaborate swirling contrails, Imperia was using the contrails solely for dramatic effect.

"You could at least try using the stance that I demonstrated, you'll find you have more range and cover more area with your sweeps and thrusts, the force is reduced but the Dragonslayer need not be swung with full power to deal damage."

Dark Spyro growled; he adjusted his hold on the spear, taking the stance Imperia had showed him.

"Very good! I'm glad you still want to learn." Imperia smiled warmly, Spyro looked handsome, the golden spear matched nicely with his golden highlights, even though at the moment his colour was dull compared to the bright gleam of the Dragonslayer. She took a moment just to look at him, and then she yelped and leaped upwards as the Dragonslayer cut apart the air where she had been a moment before. "See? You're less predictable now."

Spyro came out of his spinning attack, growling at her. Imperia giggled as she landed nearby. She posed and swished her hips to draw his attention to her curves, she was trying to tease out a reaction from Spyro, but he didn't seem inclined to be distracted by the sexy.

"Nothing? Not even a blush?" Imperia scowled playfully. "You're not fooling me darling! You wouldn't have paid any attention to my advice on spear wielding if Spyro wasn't beginning to reassert his control."

" _He is NOT!"_

"Oh stop shouting will you? It's unbecoming of a noble dragon like Spyro." She poked her tongue out. "I think he can hear me. Spyro I simply have to ask, is it really the power of friendship that you're fighting for? I mean it's fine if it is, but I want to tell you that the times I've flirted with you or teased you it's been… more… than just playing around."

She hesitated, feeling slightly self-conscious.

"You're aware that you're not the only dragon who I have feelings for, but that doesn't change the fact that I… I am genuinely fond of you. I'll give you space if you don't feel the same way… but… I think you might. Either way it's been fun, right?" Imperia's voice took on a playful tone; she cocked her head as if waiting for an answer.

Dark Spyro didn't respond, but Imperia began to smile again.

"Was that… a flicker of purple?"

" _It was not."_ Dark Spyro tried to send his purple magic out at Imperia, but it was fading away even as he focused on it.

"Oh I think it was. I'm getting through now. Oh I am so glad that worked!" Imperia's smile grew as she cheered in happiness, then she returned to speaking softly and playfully. "I think your eyes are very beautiful when they're purple, go on Spyro, you should know that yellow eyes don't quite suit you."

Dark Spyro only snarled; he swayed slightly as he stood.

"Are you feeling faint? That'd be the lack of oxygen getting to you." Imperia began to smirk.

" _What are you doing?"_ Dark Spyro stalked towards her, but he wasn't moving as easily as he usually did.

"Malefor studies magic scientifically. I know because I've worked with him, and occasionally been a test subject, sharing in the benefits of his knowledge. I've also learned from his approach to conflict, his example taught me how to arrange efficient and subtle ways to defeat my enemies, ideally without them even knowing when or how I do it. But I'm also close to Volteer, and he studies the world as a whole scientifically. I understand both views, although not quite so well as the boys do."

" _So?"_ Dark Spyro hissed and swiped at her, but Imperia skipped backwards.

"There are guidelines that govern the world, like water always boiling at certain temperatures. Volteer's been furthering the research of centuries, trying to understand these principals."

" _I already know those. I learned from Volteer too. Its worthless knowledge, it's never accurate."_

"On the contrary, it's invaluable knowledge. The inaccuracies are caused by magic; if we never used magic on anything then the world would follow discernible rules, as it is water doesn't boil at a consistent temperature. Every time we infuse it with magic we change its boiling point. Volteer had me dip my tail in water and use magic on it; I could raise or lower the boiling temperature of any amount of water that I used magic on, simply by focusing. It explains quite a lot, actually."

" _So you figured something out."_ Spyro looked dismissive. He frowned, there was definitely something wrong with his vision. What had Imperia said? The lack of oxygen? He growled and shook his head, willing away the dizziness; some channelling of his dark magic caused the feeling to fade.

"That's just a neat little side note I've used to keep you listening to me." Imperia said smugly. "I was just mentioning that magic can mess with aspects of nature. However some things are always consistent. Air is made of several types of gas, and we need one of them to survive, but not all of them. With the knowledge I got from Malefor I found a practical application for the information that Volteer and I discovered together."

Dark Spyro straightened up; the feeling was still there, but not as strong. How was he meant to stop it? He backed away from Imperia, and then used wind to leap to the other side of the platform.

Imperia smiled. "It's not as hard as I thought it'd be, sure it takes a while for the lack of oxygen to have an effect, but it's easy to maintain once I've started it. Do me a favour and don't tell Malefor about this trick please. Not yet, anyway. I want to have it just in case I need a way to fight back against him. I'm planning to teach it to him once I've gotten to know him a bit better face to face."

Imperia shrugged.

"It's good to be safe. Flare is the only one who knows I can do this, she worries about me, you see, so I told her I had this clever way to protect myself from anyone who might try to take advantage of me." Imperia frowned to herself. "She even knew that I was working with Malefor, that's probably one of the things that made her so concerned for my safety. But now I'm using it on you, not Malefor. Oh Spyro dear, I'm so sorry." The silver dragoness walked forwards with a gentle smile. "It'll all be ok though, you'll go to sleep and when you wake up everything will be fine."

Spyro shook his head, he backed away from her, but Imperia closed in until she was only metres away.

"Just look at me, relax. It'll be fine." Imperia reared up on her hind legs as she stepped forwards. She placed a gentle kiss on Spyro's forehead. "That's it. Good boy." She giggled slightly.

Dark Spyro growled, Imperia didn't flinch. She looked into his eyes and then played her trump card.

"When you wake up I'll be there for you, and so will Cynder."

The mention of the black dragoness has a sudden effect on Dark Spyro, but not one that Imperia had expected.

Dark Spyro's power flared for a moment and he snarled, then his eyes shone purple and his body colour lightened considerably. Suddenly it was Spyro, without darkness, looking into Imperia's eyes.

But that final flash of darkness hadn't been a harmless event. Even as Spyro looked at Imperia his expression turned to horror, the silver dragoness looked down, her breath had gone out of her and a sharp pain had taken its place.

The Dragonslayer was buried up to its crossguard in her chest. A tentative flap of her silver wings revealed that the tip of the blade was protruding from her upper back. It had gone right through her body.

Imperia stared at Spyro, seeing shock and guilt in his eyes. Deeper within she saw a hint of yellow already growing again. She hadn't saved him, and now her magic was failing and her body was too weak and she opened her mouth and no sound came out.

It took effort to speak, it hurt, and when she finally managed it her voice came out as a quiet whimper.

"You know Spyro… I was really… really hoping… that you wouldn't do that."

* * *

 **The final two chapters of The Fall will be posted together 24 hours after this chapter.**

 **-4Dragons**


	38. The Fall Part IV: Cynder

**Chapter 38**

 _ **The Fall  
Part IV: Cynder  
~**_

 **The song for this chapter is This Broken Soul, from the Legend of Spyro soundtrack. It's the saddest song I know, and that means exactly what you think it means.  
I'm sorry.**

* * *

Imperia stood still, she was reared up on her hind legs, looking down at Spyro quietly, moving didn't seem that important anymore.

She reached down to her belly and grasped the crossguard of the spear with her forepaws, holding it. It had gone through her body at an angle, entering her underbody just below the ribs; the tip of the blade was now emerging from her back, just below her shoulders, between her wings.

The wound was serious, possibly fatal.

"Imperia. Imperia I didn't mean it." Spyro looked at her with pure horror.

Imperia gazed back at him, her mouth parted but saying nothing.

"Oh no…" Spyro whispered in shock. "No…"

Imperia tilted her head slightly; blood was welling up out of her wound and streaming down her body. Red and silver were a lovely combination together, she'd always said so…

"Imperia look at me! Stay with me!" Spyro shook her desperately. "It's a serious wound I-" His voice was cut off as his eyes flashed white. "He's... he's not gone." Spyro looked at her with panic. "Imperia I can't hold him back for long. I'm so sorry." He was beginning to cry.

Imperia spoke softly but clearly, a faint smile appearing on her face. "It's ok Spyro… Don't you dare blame yourself for this. And I… I will never blame you either." She leaned forwards and placed a kiss on his forehead. "Don't give up…"

A single tear fell from Spyro's shining purple eye, but even as it rolled down his snout and dropped his eyes became yellow once more.

Dark Spyro looked at what he had done, Spyro's emotions were making him weak; Spyro wanted to help the silver dragoness, but he crushed those feelings away in annoyance.

He grasped the spear, making Imperia whimper in pain as the metal shifted in her body. He tugged and she stumbled forwards, she was holding the crossguard and keeping the blade pinned inside her.

He simply could not bring himself to rip it out. He'd cry.

Dark Spyro's eyes flicked to Cynder, the black dragoness was looking at him with horrified sadness, and even fear. This hurt more than anything, Dark Spyro couldn't tolerate being around this sort of emotional pain. He needed time to think, time to make sense of this.

He released the spear and ran to the side of the platform, launching himself off it and racing away into the storm.

Imperia remained, swaying and watching until Spyro disappeared from sight. Then she sagged, the weight of the spear overcame her weak attempt at standing and she fell on her back.

"Imperia!" Cynder screamed, she ran forwards, but was stopped by the snake band against her neck. Imperia rolled onto her side and looked at Cynder.

"Allow me… to get that off you."

She began to crawl towards Cynder, but she was too weak. Cynder used wind, wrapping it around the older dragoness and guiding her forwards. Imperia left a trail of blood. Cynder spoke urgently. "Imperia, you need help. I need to get you to a healer or something!"

Imperia giggled faintly. "The Dragonslayer can't be healed that easily. Just… let me help you." She dipped a claw in the blood running down her belly, her own blood, and reached up towards Cynder's snake charm.

Cynder sobbed, lowering her head so Imperia could reach the band. The silver dragoness sighed in relief; she made a small symbol on the charm and channelled a flicker of magic into it. The snake came alive; slithering against Cynder scales it unwound itself and dropped to the ground before curling its body up in a circle.

"There…"

Cynder rushed to Imperia's side, urgently checking the wound. Imperia whimpered in pain, but Cynder didn't let that stop her from trying to help. "What can I do?"

"Just… forgive me. Cynder, I'm so sorry for how much I hurt you. I never meant for you to feel that pain."

"Stop talking like that! You know this castle, there has to be _something_ that'll help you! Tell me what it is!"

Tears filled Cynder's eyes, and she saw that Imperia was crying too. The silver dragoness shook her head faintly. "Please say you can forgive me. I'm begging you."

"Shut up! I won't forgive you until you're well again!" Cynder shook Imperia forcefully, making her cry out in pain.

Cynder stopped immediately so as not to hurt her; horrible feelings of helplessness were rushing through her and she began to sob. She wracked her brain for options, seizing on increasingly desperate ideas.

"You can survive! You have to! I… I'll use poison to slow your body down, you can hang on long enough that Malefor can heal you with purple light!"

This was hypothetically a good idea, but Cynder had never actually used such magic on a living target, and she was more likely to kill Imperia by accident then she was to help her. The only thing she could do was put Imperia into a painless, temporary, sleep. And even that had risk while Imperia was so weak.

Imperia giggled faintly. "I hoped that you two could… be friends. That's why I did everything… for a happy ending."

"And a happy ending needs to have you!"

Cynder shouted at the silver dragoness, Imperia opened her mouth, but couldn't reply. Cynder spoke on, her voice breaking with sadness and anger.

"Stop it! You're not allowed to die! I'm not allowing you to die!"

"Malefor… can't heal this wound. I can't…" Imperia looked at Cynder, sudden fear in her eyes. "Say you can forgive me. If… if I die then I need to hear it!"

Cynder shook her head, weeping freely now. "I won't let you die! Stop talking about it!"

"Cynder please…" Imperia was begging softly. "I want to live… but… if I can't." The silver dragoness looked up at Cynder, the fear in her eyes was now plain. She was desperate to hear those words, and terrified that she wouldn't.

"Don't even say it! You have to live!"

Imperia shook her head. Fear became hopelessness, Imperia looked defeated and unbearably sad.

Cynder felt like she was in a nightmare. This couldn't be happening. Why did things have to go so wrong? Imperia couldn't die, it just wouldn't be fair.

The silver dragoness's lips twitched slightly in a smile as some thought occurred to her, Cynder barely heard the words that she spoke. "I love you. I'm so proud of you, Cynder… and I'll do anything… to be with you again."

Cynder was speechless; there was nothing she could say in that moment. She was only able to listen and watch.

Imperia laughed faintly, she reached up and lightly brushed tears off Cynder's snout. She gently rested her soft paw on Cynder's muzzle. There was blood on her paw, drops of it were wet against Cynder's nose. "Those were such nice last words! I could hardly hope for better."

Cynder was snapped out of her trance by that, and her mind was screaming with horror. "Stop it! You're not dying! Imperia please don't die!"

She threw herself around the neck of the older dragoness, cradling Imperia's upper body in her forelegs. She kept talking, pleading with Imperia, threatening her, telling her that she would be alright, ordering her not to die.

The silver dragoness didn't reply, her paw fell to rest on the ground, and eventually Cynder understood that there was nobody there to hear her.

Imperia was dead.

Cynder jerked her head away from Imperia's still form, tears blurred her sight. She saw silver and red, and there was no movement. She couldn't sense the other dragoness's wind magic, or the motion of her breath. Her pulse, when Cynder desperately checked it, was gone.

Cynder screamed, anger sadness and helplessness were filling her up. The world around her seemed to be standing still, as if everything was waiting for her to give up.

Cynder again threw herself on Imperia, but her desperation had gone, leaving her hollow and empty.

She could barely even cry anymore, all of her tears had gone.

Cynder lifted Imperia's wing gently, she moved closer to the silver dragoness, wrapping her paws around Imperia's slim waist. She rested the wing on her back, as Imperia had so often done for her in the past.

With her eyes closed Cynder could almost believe that Imperia had put her wing there by choice, as she always did. With her eyes closed Cynder could almost believe that the tears on her cheeks had been shed for her own loneliness, as she had once cried, and that Imperia was here to comfort her. She could almost believe that the wet liquid her underbelly was resting in was not blood.

But there was no comfort. The feeling of warm comfort that had once gone with that soft cuddle was as empty as Imperia herself was.

Cynder, snug in Imperia's soft embrace, had never felt more alone.

She held tighter, her underbody was sticky with still warm blood, and the cold haft of the spear pressed against her ribs, but she kept nuzzling herself closer to Imperia, hoping that somehow she could make the feelings go away.

Imperia did nothing in response; she didn't lean against Cynder, or give the black dragoness a squeeze. She didn't make some playful silly comment, she didn't purr or make a happy sound.

She was gone.

A fresh wave of tears took her, Cynder sobbed into Imperia's wing, stroking and petting the silver dragoness's scales for what could be the final time.

"I… I do forgive you."

Cynder said the words far too late for them to be heard. Guilt crashed through her, but the words were flowing out of her and she didn't know where they were coming from but she knew that it was the most important thing it the world that she had to say them right then.

"Imperia, I'm so sorry. I… I should have said that I did. I-I should have said it."

She could barely continue to speak.

"It's too late; I can see that it is. But… but I do forgive you. You did what you thought was right, and that's… that's exactly what I'd expect from you. You were wrong about one thing, though. You should have known that without you a happy ending c-couldn't be properly happy."

It hurt too much; Cynder took a few deep breaths before she could continue.

"Imperia, I don't know if I can do this, I don't think that I can save Spyro without knowing that you're there. I… I need you. I forgive you for what you did, and I love you too. Now, always and forever."

Her speech finished, Cynder lay her head down right next to Imperia's; her body went limp. She couldn't move to lift Imperia's wing from her back, she didn't want to go anywhere or do anything.

Cynder closed her eyes; she surrendered herself to her feelings.

This time the black dragoness lost her will to fight. This time Cynder decided to give up and just let the world win.

* * *

 **I cried so much.**

 **-4Dragons**


	39. The Fall Part V: Tears Fall

**Chapter 39**

 _ **The Fall  
Part V -Final: Tears Fall  
~**_

* * *

 _I bought my ticket for the long way 'round  
the one with the prettiest of views  
It's got mountains, it's got rivers, it's got sights to give you shivers  
But it sure would be prettier with you._

 _You're gonna' miss me by my talk  
You're gonna' miss me by my walk, oh  
You're gonna' miss me when I'm gone._

 _-Cup Song: Extreme Edition, by John Cozart  
Imperia's song_

Malefor glided up to the rooftop of his fortress. When he had woken up collapsed on part of the stairs of the tower he had laid still and silent, listening to find out what was going on above him. He felt that he'd been brought back to alertness by a sound, perhaps a scream, but when he listened he had heard nothing more. He waited for almost a minute for his power to recover, and then he took off and flew back to the platform. In only moments he saw why there was no sound of fighting or conversation up there.

Cynder and Imperia lay on the floor together; Spyro was nowhere to be seen. It took Malefor only a second to realise that the silver dragoness was dead.

Cynder was crying softly, she'd tucked herself under Imperia's wing and was clinging to the silver female's body. Malefor hadn't been prepared for this. He felt a sudden painful feeling in his chest and he felt his throat constrict, making it hard for him to speak.

His voice was a croak once he finally managed to use it.

"Cynder."

The black dragoness didn't look around, didn't make any response whatsoever.

Malefor walked forwards, his usual caution in dealing with Cynder was forgotten. Cynder had never looked less dangerous; in fact she looked heartbroken and utterly defeated.

The pain in Malefor's chest wasn't going away. There was no physical injury, either external or internal; Malefor had fully healed himself of the wounds he'd suffered in the fight. But this pain wasn't going away. In fact it was getting stronger.

Malefor distanced himself from it as much as he could, but he was already creating a hypothesis as to what it was, and he knew that it would claim him eventually. While he still had the power to plan with calculating logic he decided on a course of action. It wasn't a great one by his usual standards, but it was all that he could think of.

Seeing Cynder like this made the pain worse, but nothing hurt quite so much to look at as Imperia's still form. Malefor walked up to them and stopped. He very gently, tenderly in fact, lifted Imperia's wing aside to look at Cynder.

Neither of the dragonesses reacted to his presence in any way, but Cynder was still crying and Imperia was not breathing.

Malefor used his purple magic to coax Cynder off Imperia, he felt that he had to do something but he wasn't entirely sure how or what to do.

"Cynder. She's gone. We can't help her now." Malefor spoke softly, trying to get through to the distraught black dragon without success. He cast around for something to get her to react, and as usual his mind hit upon a brilliant idea. "Cynder… where's Ember?"

That made an impact. Cynder's head raised and the black dragoness spoke in a quiet, broken, voice. "She… she wanted us to be together."

Malefor looked at her, not understanding. "Ember wanted you and Imperia to be together?"

"No." Cynder shook her head dully. "Imperia wanted Ember and I to be together. She… she wanted us to be friends."

"She did?" Malefor phrased it as a question, he hadn't known this.

It fit perfectly with what he knew of Imperia, she would always try to solve the arguments of those around her, but he had assumed that Cynder and Ember had made up with each other without Imperia's help. Finding out that she was more directly involved was unexpected. Imperia had talked to him about wanting to help the two of them, but she'd never confided in him any plans for doing so.

Cynder thought that Malefor was making a statement. She nodded in response. "Imperia wanted Ember and I to get over our rivalry, and work together. She hoped that we would."

"She was right." Malefor said softly. That if nothing else he was certain of.

"Yes… she's been right about a lot of things." Cynder felt more tears coming. Malefor spoke before Cynder could close off from him again.

"Ember is in the castle, she's been captured. The General wanted her to be safe."

"Where?"

Malefor glanced over his shoulder, he had sent mental summons to any orc in the vicinity the moment he'd decided on this little plan of his. A pair of orcs crawled up onto the platform; he sent one of them away with a brief dismissal and then gave orders to the other while also talking to Cynder.

"This orc will take you to her. None of the orcs in the fortress will attack you now, our disagreements with each other are over now Cynder, we've both lost what we had and there's nothing left to fight over."

Cynder saw the hurt in Malefor's eyes and heard it in his voice. She left silently, following the orc that had been tasked with leading her.

Malefor felt a surprising surge of admiration for the black dragoness. She was still thinking of others as well as just herself, even as her closest friend lay dead before her feet.

Once Cynder was gone Malefor sighed, abandoning all of his pretence at being cold and in control.

Imperia had meant everything to him too. She wasn't just his closest friend; the silver dragoness had been his only one.

It wasn't rational, it wasn't logical, and it wasn't the action of a Malefor who was capable of creating a new better world. But right now he didn't care. Right now he wasn't that Malefor. That Malefor saw Imperia as nothing more than a tool. That Malefor was gone; perhaps he had been gone for a long time.

He sat beside the still form of the wind dragoness, resting a paw on the curve of her throat and looking at her still face, she looked peaceful and sad, but with a bittersweet smile touching her lips. A funny thought as she'd died, perhaps.

Tears began to fall from Malefor's snout. He let them, Imperia deserved no less then all of the emotion that he could show. She deserved more emotion; the feeling in his chest had expanded to fill him with sadness. It was grief, just as he had thought it was. If he had have been able to weep then he would have, but he couldn't do it. Imperia would just have to trust that he felt more then he showed.

"Well… here we are. My plan failed, and you're the one to blame. Why, Imperia? Why did you do this?"

Malefor sighed, he stroked Imperia's throat, examining her scales.

"Nevermind, it's not so hard to work out. The same reason that you did anything. You thought it'd make everyone happier."

Malefor gently shifted Imperia's wings so they folded neatly. He reluctantly grasped the Dragonslayer and drew the bloody blade from her breast. The golden spear felt unusual, it gladly came out of the wound it had inflicted, and it rested mournfully in his paw once Malefor had removed it.

Malefor knew that the Dragonslayer had consciousness, it knew in some limited way that it had just slain its mistress, the dragon who'd cared for it lovingly and wielded it so skilfully. Malefor wondered if it was sorry.

"You got the spear back for us, but that's not something worth sacrificing your life for."

Malefor pondered.

"You'd still be alive now if you didn't intend to sacrifice your life. If you weren't prepared to go through with it you'd have been more cautious and never gotten within range of the spear. I know you, Imperia. You were ready to die when you came here, even if you didn't want to."

Malefor tilted his head; there were so many fond memories he had of his long talks with Imperia, memories tinted now with pain at her loss. A pain too deep to express with actions, too complicated for him to show it using his emotions. He had to talk about it, try to explain it to her and to himself.

"You never liked sacrifices. I sacrificed my kindness for the good of my plan, and you couldn't stand that. Remember? Of course you remember, we argued about it for years. I said emotions weren't going to help, they were a luxury that I didn't have if I wanted to succeed. You told me that I was too cold, you didn't think that I should conceal my emotions."

He sighed; he curled his tail around and rested it against Imperia's head.

"You were right about a lot of things; maybe that's one of them."

Malefor looked at Imperia.

"I'm sure you'd be smiling if you were alive to hear this. What could you possibly have to smile about?"

Then he chuckled.

"No, I see it now. You lost the rational argument, so you tried a more persuasive tactic. You wormed your way into my mind, pleasing and frustrating me with your personality, and your antics. You helped me overcome my loneliness, you were understanding and caring and all along you were doing it to try to win me over to your way of thinking."

He reached down and picked up Imperia's paw, squeezing it gently.

"And you win. That's what you want, isn't it? Well you have it. You made me care about you. I had just finished proving to you that caring wouldn't help me and then you had to go along and make me care anyway."

Malefor shook his head slightly in frustration and another tear dripped, this one landed on Imperia's wing.

"Well done, you proved that I have a heart. I must have a heart, because… because loosing you has left me heartbroken."

He looked at her.

"How poetic. You'd be proud, wouldn't you?" He sighed. "Is that worth dying for? You died to show me that I can care? It's not a wholly encouraging message. It hurts."

Malefor sniffled slightly, trying not to laugh at the same time.

"I should be sadder. You deserve the sort of grief that Cynder could show for you."

A thought struck Malefor.

"Oh no… How can I tell Volteer? How can I tell Flare?" Malefor buried his face in his paw. "There are so many dragons who love and care for you. Your students and the Guardians, and I'm sure there are others. I don't know what to do!"

Malefor made a sad sound. He tried to imagine himself doing that. He was Volteer's wary look when Malefor approached him saying that he had news. He saw Volteer's expression turn to shocked disbelief as Malefor told him what had happened, and then he watched as Volteer was filled with pain and began to sob. He expected that the yellow dragon would cry, just like Cynder had. Maybe that wasn't the case; he didn't know Volteer very well after all.

How would Flare respond to the death of her mate? Malefor had no frame of reference for that, Flare was something of a mystery to him. Perhaps she'd be like him, too used to concealing her emotions, unable to show just how much she was hurt.

The one thing that he was sure of was that the news would pain both of them greatly. He was also sure that he didn't want to keep trying to imagine this.

"I'm not going to do anything now. Rest in peace now, Imperia, you've earnt some peace. I'll decide what to do once I'm calmer."

He stood up, and then he paused and looked down at Imperia.

"There's something else that you want from me, isn't there? I can tell. Your death here was too poetic, too perfect. Spyro, Cynder and I all had a part in your death, and I think that you planned that. It's a statement, the final part of something that you've been working towards for years. I'm sure you never wanted to die, but if there was ever a moment to die then this was the perfect one. What is it that you want from me?"

Malefor waited, watching Imperia. He squeezed her paw gently. A theory formed.

"You caused my plan to fail, hoping that it'd lead to us being friends. You never wanted Spyro to become dark either, but you didn't let that stop you from bringing Cynder and myself together. Oh, a friendship forged in tragedy. I imagine that you did just the same thing to Cynder and Ember. Now you want Cynder and I to put aside our grievances, to work together."

He felt another tear fall.

"You didn't need to die to do this! I wanted to be friends with Cynder! I wanted her to be on my side. You… Why did we have to lose you? Why did _I_ have to lose you? Why…"

He looked down at the pale paw he was holding, and then he looked more closely.

"Surely not."

He lifted Imperia's head and looked at her blank lifeless eyes. Undeterred he examined her body, checking for a pulse and finding nothing. He found what he was looking for in her tail and her hind legs. Her larger muscle groups were not showing any indication of post mortal atrophy, but they also weren't functioning normally for a live dragon. Imperia's whole body had gone utterly limp; she was clearly dead, but not in a natural way.

Malefor began to smile faintly.

"Ah, you clever girl… Very clever indeed."

* * *

 **A mystery then: What does Malefor know that we don't?  
All of the best puzzles can be solved, and you can solve this one. All of the facts are there, if you put them together.  
I usually just ask for reviews, but this time I'm going to ask you for a conspiracy theory. How could Imperia survive? There is a way, perhaps there are several. What do you think?**

 **Other news:  
I'm going to re-write the early chapters of this story. Remember back before all of these horrible things happened and everyone was still happy? I want to go back to that time for a little while.**

 **There may not be many new chapters posted for a while, but I am still going to be writing new things that you might enjoy reading. I'll post the new chapters as their own story as soon as I finish each one, so check my profile for that. It'll probably be called 'A Duel With Destiny, The Power of Time' because that's a really dramatic way of me saying "I think I've gotten better during one year of story writing, what do you think?"**

 **If you're not interested in reading those and giving feedback as I write them then I'll let everyone know once I've updated the old chapters with the new ones. You can go back and re-read then without ever needing to leave the story.**

 **Updates may be slow again from now on, however that gives you all plenty of time to think over what's happened to Imperia and come up with ideas.**

 **Don't lose hope.**

 **-4Dragons**


	40. Comfort and Hope

**Writing has been slow, and I wish that the next chapters would come sooner and be better. But it's just not going to be that way, life has been taking away my writing time. Still I'll update this story with the best chapters I can write, as often as I can.**

 **Don't worry, though, this story is still going strong and it shall continue to be awesome.**

 **This chapter has a happier sounding name, that should make a nice change of pace from the previous ones. I do love writing cheerful stories.  
The song for this chapter is Safe and Sound, originally from The Hunger Games and sung by Taylor Swift. GoldenGriffiness used the same song in one of her stories, so credit to her! I didn't copy what she wrote, although she's a great author and totally worth reading. (plus she's very artistic)**

 **I hope you all remember where we were up to...  
**

* * *

Ember was sitting in the middle of her new cell with a deep scowl on her face. She's only just discovered how much she hated being tricked. She felt she was beginning to understand something of how Cynder must have been feeling since Malefor had recaptured her. Hopefully Cynder had gotten payback, though. Saved Spyro, that was. Ember found herself feeling neutral about Malefor, he was too scary to like but too kind to hate.

The room was smaller than the other one, and bare of all furniture and comfort, but aside from being boring there was nothing really wrong with it.

Angry and ashamed for being fooled Ember just had to sit and wait to find out who would come and get her.

It wasn't long that she was waiting, half an hour at the most, but it still irked her to be cut off from whatever action and excitement was going on outside. She'd wanted to be there to see Spyro and Cynder reunited, it would be romantic and hopefully they would be on their way back to her now.

As the minutes dragged on Ember became worried, she was glad when the door was finally unlocked and opened. She hesitated to see who would come in, and sighed in relief when she saw that it was Cynder.

She stepped forwards, but her smile died on her lips as she saw instantly that something had gone terribly, terribly, wrong.

Cynder was alone, covered in blood, and she looked utterly awful. Ember had never thought Cynder could look so small and sad. Smallness and sadness were not Cynder traits, Cynder was strong and beautiful and brave, the black dragoness who walked into the room resembled Cynder in beauty only.

"Oh no…" Ember felt her heart constrict in terror, Cynder was alone and there was so much blood. "Is that… Spyro's?"

"He did it." Cynder said, shaking her head.

Ember hesitated. "He? Who? Did what?"

"He killed her. He just… killed her."

Ember didn't need to hear any more. She ran forwards and wrapped Cynder in a hug. She felt a soft glow of relief that it was a 'her' who had died. That meant that Spyro was ok, right? But the moment passed instantly. One glance at Cynder's face told Ember that things were a long way from being ok, with Spyro or otherwise. _Someone_ had been killed, and Cynder was obviously heartbroken.

Cynder folded into Ember's hug, she was about to cry. She had to tell Ember what had happened quickly, while she still had the strength.

"Spyro killed Imperia!"

Having told Ember what had happened Cynder buried her face against the other dragoness' side and began to weep.

Ember was horrified and confused. Spyro would never kill Imperia. The purple dragon and the silver dragoness were close friends, maybe even more then friends. It made no sense at all, but she did not doubt Cynder at all.

She believed that Imperia was dead, but she simply couldn't believe that it was because of Spyro. It was like her mind simply couldn't connect two facts. It just didn't work that way. Spyro couldn't kill Imperia. It was a rule of the world that had been broken.

Ember felt that her mind was going in circles, she snapped herself out of it by shaking her head violently.

But now, with her mind no longer preoccupied by how Imperia had died, she was forced to come to terms with the fact that the silver dragoness was dead. This line of thought hurt a lot more.

Ember felt herself getting close to crying. She held Cynder close for comfort. She'd only ever talked to Imperia a few times, but she'd instantly liked the kindness in the elder dragoness' behaviour and personality. Imperia had been supportive of Ember, and had seemed understanding of how frustrated Ember had been in trying to attract positive attention from Spyro.

Equally important was the way that Cynder felt about Imperia. Ember knew that Imperia had been the black dragoness' closest friend, aside from Spyro perhaps. Losing her must be hurting Cynder terribly, and Ember felt some of that pain in sympathy.

"I'm sorry Cynder… I know how much she meant to you." Ember wrapped her paws and tail around the sobbing black dragoness, this wasn't the Cynder she was used to, but it was still Cynder and Ember would do everything she could to help her.

Cynder responded in a surprisingly even voice considering that she was still crying, but speaking so quietly that Ember could barely hear her.

"It's not just me… There's Volteer, Flare, her class at the dragon academy. Spyro went dark and he just took her away…"

"And her twin sister…" Ember said, and she felt a new stab of pain, she hadn't thought of that at first. She knew that Imperia had many friends. There were so many who would miss her.

But right now the one who was most hurt was Cynder. Ember cradled the other dragoness gently, seeing that her efforts were having some effect.

It was incredible how strong Cynder was; Ember had no doubt at all that Cynder would fight though this. All she needed was one small bit of hope to focus on, something to give her the strength to overcome all the pain. Ember didn't care if it was her or Spyro or anyone else who gave Cynder that hope, just as long as it was given.

She didn't know how long she sat there with Cynder, but eventually the black dragoness stopped sobbing. Cynder just sat there with her head resting on Ember's shoulder and Ember remained perfectly still for her.

Eventually Ember noticed that they were being watched. An orc stood mutely at the doorway, watching them expectantly. Ember looked at it, and the creature looked back at her.

It seemed to want to say something, although it wasn't an expressive creature and there was no way for her to tell for sure what it was doing.

"What are you looking at?" She asked it.

The orc tilted its head, hearing the comment. It had no way to reply. Every time it had ever communicated with another creature it had been because the other creature had controlled its mind. It was incapable of initiating that sort of connection with another creature; its mind existed only to receive contact not to establish it. The General and Malefor could tell an orc what to do or hear what an orc had to report, but Cynder and Ember couldn't.

The orc, however, was a mindless creature. All it knew was to wait in this position until somebody around it did something. It did not think of going to get help, so it just stood there waiting to communicate.

Ember scowled at it, it was interrupting her thoughts. She wanted to think of Cynder and Imperia, not these weird creepy rock creatures.

The orc was eventually relieved by someone who knew how to command it. It turned and walked away emotionlessly. The General stepped into the doorway, replacing it.

"Ember. I struck you for your own good. Had you gone up to the platform you may have died."

Ember narrowed her eyes. "Maybe that's true. But I trusted you, and you attacked me while my back was turned."

"What?" Cynder was jerked out of her daze by this comment. She looked around and saw the General. "You again?"

The creature bowed and delivered its message briefly, it did not wish to be caught up in conversation. Not this time. This time Imperia was dead, and no conversation was desired. "The orcs inform me, and came here to inform you, that dragons are on their way. It is likely they are from Warfang and followed Malefor back here. I have ordered the gates be opened for them. Malefor has secluded himself in his library with his artefacts and taken with him Lady Imperia's remains, that part of the castle is sealed but the rest is now yours. There is nothing here that is worth protecting from Warfang anymore."

With that the General walked away to do whatever it did.

Ember gently raised Cynder to her feet. "We should go and see who's here."

Cynder sighed sadly. "The guardians have to stay together. They've probably all come here."

"Including Volteer and Flare." Ember finished the thought. "And Imperia was close friends with Terrador and Cyril too."

"I know we have to tell them." Cynder said. "Better to do it now then later. If I start crying again you tell them, ok?"

Ember nodded. "I'll be here with you."

* * *

Cynder was eventually proven to be correct. As she and Ember followed the corridors down, heading always in the direction that looked grandest and most luscious, they eventually came across a massive antechamber. The place was covered in glorious purple, jet black and stark white. Gold trimmed enormous curtains rose on two sides of the walls, and intricate windows of stained glass were set into the walls beside said curtains. On one of the two windows was the etched figure of a magnificent purple dragon, on the other was a sinuous dragon of silver. Imperia really had gone all out in decorating this room, and this time she'd included some tribute to herself as well.

There were two vast doors on the far side of the huge space, and through these doors swept a sizable group of dragons. In the lead was Terrador, and Volteer only a second behind him.

The two guardians instantly separated to avoid any attack, darting to opposite sides of the room and scanning the area for traps.

"Clear." Terrador growled.

"All is clear." Volteer agreed.

A moment later Cyril swooped into the room and landed lightly before the doors. Flare came immediately behind him, and a group of at least ten dragons followed her feather tipped tail.

The group looked wary, but also awed at the grandeur of the room they had stepped into. They were dripping on the carpet, being wet from the rain outside. Volteer was among the dragons that noticed this and awkwardly shook themselves dry. Terrador seemed not to care, while Flare was steaming slightly and did not appear wet at all.

Flare was the first to spot Cynder and Ember at the far end of the space, from the distance it took her a few moments to recognise the two figures she was looking at.

"Ember? Is that you? Cynder?" Flare stepped forwards. "Is this a trap?"

Cynder shook her head. "No trap." Her voice was soft and sad, seeing the beautiful image of the silver dragoness had not helped with her grief very much. "Malefor has given up fighting us."

This caused a murmur of surprise among the group. Cynder counted thirteen dragons, four of the guardians as well as nine other dragons she did not recognise.

"Sorry Cynder, but we won't trust your word just yet." Flare said apologetically. "There are other dragons outside, surrounding this fortress. If we don't signal then they'll storm the castle."

Cynder walked forwards, she was beyond caring about caution. "Whatever. There isn't any danger here now. It's all over."

"We came straight from Warfang as soon as we could, leaving the city under the control of Altia and Sheer, one of Cyril's aides." Volteer couldn't resist talking. "Both dragonesses were obvious choices for leadership and we were able to leave twenty minutes after Imperia and Malefor did. What could we have missed arriving here so rapidly, considering the extraordinarily prompt mobilization of out squadron, escort, foray, party, eh, ah Cynder, are you alright? You're covered in blood!"

Volteer was caught in the midst of his babbling as he suddenly realised just how distressed Cynder was looking. He stepped forwards with obvious concern. Volteer glanced at Terrador and the earth dragon nodded, allowing him to go to Cynder. Volteer gave Cynder a warm smile as he walked forwards, and that was enough to make Cynder's calm façade crack. "Cynder, are you alright?" he asked again.

The black dragoness shook her head silently, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Volteer hurried forwards and hugged her. In much the same way as she had with Ember she allowed herself to fold into his hug, beginning to cry. "Oh dear… What's wrong?" Volteer asked.

"It's S-Spyro he killed Imperia." Cynder managed to speak with only a slight tremble in her voice.

Volteer was paralysed by those words, it was nothing he'd expected, nothing he'd prepared for, those words went straight under his guard and struck his heart. His mouth opened and closed several times, soundlessly.

"What did she say?" Cyril asked, frowning. He'd heard only the word 'Spyro'.

"Spyro killed Imperia." An earth dragoness repeated automatically. The dragoness was green with two extraordinarily long horns that were slim, sharp, and a startling white colour, similar to Cynder's horns but larger. She considered herself one of Imperia's friends, and while she'd heard Cynder's words perfectly she was having trouble believing them.

Horrified silence filled the group, those few dragons who weren't close to Imperia themselves were admirers of Volteer or Flare, or friends with another friend of Imperia's, and nobody knew how to respond.

"Preposterous. Impossible." Cyril said, but he didn't sound very confident. "Spyro would never…"

"He was dark." Ember said. Once again three words stopped the conversation in its tracks.

Every dragon but one turned to look at Volteer, by unspoken agreement everyone waited for his reaction. Terrador and Cyril were both ready to step forwards if comfort was needed.

It wasn't long before the two of them did step forwards. Volteer was looking stunned and hurt, but he didn't quite cry. For many long moments he sat still beside Cynder, and then he looked down and spoke in a small hesitant voice.

"Cynder. The blood?"

Cynder began to cry harder, and her reaction answered Volteer's question eloquently.

Volteer stared at the blood, _her_ blood, a few small streaks were now stuck to the yellow scales of his flank. "Oh no… Imperia… no."

Volteer held Cynder tighter; she was the closest thing to Imperia that was left.

Terrador rested a wing on Volteer's shoulder. Cyril stood by, too dignified to do the same thing but still determined to offer whatever comfort his presence gave.

For long minutes Volteer remained on the brink of crying, but then he swallowed despite the pain in his throat and looked around at the others.

"She wouldn't want us to grieve too much."

All of the dragons in the group except one heard those words, because one of the dragons was no longer in the group.

As soon as the earth dragoness repeated Cynder's words Flare had edged to the back of the small crowd. Everything that she had feared when she'd heard that Imperia had disappeared with Malefor was now realised. Once Ember's words had reached her she had silently turned around and walked back to the doors and the open sky. She did not wish to let anyone see her once she began to weep.

Flare spun her wispy tail once as she unfurled her wings, then she took off and fled into the rain. The drops that struck her body turned to steam instantly, but her tears stayed, burning hot on her cheeks. She didn't hear about the blood. She didn't see Terrador give Volteer comfort. She certainly didn't hear her mate's words.

* * *

Ignitus flew sombrely through the air, much higher than most dragons would dare to fly he gazed down at the land far below him.

He could not hurry, but nor could he delay. There was a time to arrive, and he would arrive then only. He wished that he could have arrived sooner, but there was no point. Whatever had happened had happened, it was too late to change it.

Ignitus was going to Cynder's fortress. The images of the future which he had seen made some sense in that context.

What he had thought was the ruins of a city could perhaps be the ruins of the old fortress, and there were cells and caves below the earth there where Cynder might be held, thus both of the images he had seen appeared to converge there. However he was still concerned.

The future was notoriously difficult to understand, and any attempt to change it could easily cause it to come to pass instead. The rest of the slim book he had found provided hints that some sort of event was to take place, but nothing that he could confidently interpret.

Why did the future have to be so blurry? He'd been able to more accurately predict parts of the future by observing the past then he could now from reading this accursed book.

Ignitus flew onwards, hoping that he was doing the right thing.

* * *

The Warfang dragons divided their forces. Most of them separated into pairs and fanned out to scout the fortress, Terrador and Cyril took the lead, although they didn't pair up with each other but instead paired with less experienced dragons.

Volteer was left with Cynder, along with a few of the other dragons who had known Imperia well. Cynder sat under Volteer's wing and listened to them talk.

The discussion was sad, but like Volteer had said they refused to let grief consume them. The dragons were deciding what to do next.

Volteer wanted to send someone back to Warfang with the news. There was no fighting to be done here, so the numbers that they had brought were not relevant. There were sixteen dragons in total, including the four guardians and the dragons that were still outside the fortress keeping watch. Cynder and Ember made eighteen now they had joined the Warfang group.

Terrador and Cyril were in charge of dealing with whatever they wanted to do with Cynder's Fortress and the purple dragon within it. Ember had made sure that everyone knew not to attack orcs unless they were attacked first. Terrador, while puzzled by her insistence, agreed and made it an order. Most of the dragons left, choosing different doors and walking away in pairs. Mourning for Imperia was Volteer's affair.

They would need to make a public announcement, but it was traditional that the friends of a deceased dragon were informed before any announcement was made.

Cynder had never thought that Imperia would have so many friends. She'd known the wind dragoness was a social creature, but she'd never realised just to what degree. The list of dragons who needed to be informed grew rapidly. It was hard to know who was a romantic or intimate partner and who was just a friend, Imperia had liked being a bit of both.

Cynder just sat and listened, finding a whole new dimension of Imperia's personality that she'd only seen hints of before. She may never have interacted with any of the dragons mentioned, but she'd have just liked to know about what Imperia had gotten up to.

"I'm not sure I can remember all of the names." The earth dragoness with the unusually long horns said.

Her name was Ivorii, although Cynder hadn't been listening when that had been brought up. Ivorii had volunteered to go back to Warfang with the information that Imperia was dead, but they were going to wait until the castle had been searched before sending her, in case there was anything else that the city needed to know about.

"Perhaps we should write them on paper." Volteer said. "Besides I don't think anyone knows everything about Imperia's antics. Except perhaps Flare. They shared everything." Volteer chuckled, thinking of the two dragonesses, but then he frowned. "Where is she?"

Cynder was confused, so it wasn't until Ember spoke up that she realised the problem.

"Flare is gone!" Ember exclaimed. "She didn't go with Master Terrador or Cyril, did she?"

The other dragons shook their heads, nobody remembered Flare going with the searching dragons, but she'd clearly gone somewhere.

"We should look for her." Cynder said.

"I will." Volteer said. He thought for a moment. "She wouldn't go somewhere new without telling anyone, no matter how upset she was. She won't have gone deeper into the castle." Volteer looked to the two doors leading outside. "She'll have flown away somewhere to be alone."

"Do you really think she'd be that upset?" Ember asked with interest. "Flare is always so cool and collected."

Cynder jabbed her warningly and spoke in a cold voice. "Imperia is dead, Ember. She was Flare's mate."

Ember shut up, her mind catching up with her mouth and realising that she'd said something very tactless. She wiped her eyes; she had sudden tears, feeling like an awful dragon.

Volteer nodded. "She loved Imperia, and the two of them parted badly. She will be that upset."

The electric guardian walked to the doors. Several of the others followed him, but Volteer waved them away with his tail.

"I'm her mate. I'd prefer to deal with this alone."

Volteer walked on alone and flew out the doors into the rain. He looked over the landscape below him, a threatening looking place of bleak ragged rock covered with huge crystalline structures. Where was a safe place to land, if you wanted to be able to cry in peace?

Volteer saw a few high crystals that could be landed on, but Flare wasn't perched on any of them.

Maybe crying in peace wasn't what she wanted to do. Volteer looked lower, among the crystals he saw moving _things_ , creatures that were twisted and tormented. He also saw a trail of destruction, of little patches of fire still smouldering, and old bones smashed into splinters. Maybe she wanted to be angry.

From a distance it was an easy thing to miss, but the flickering fire could mean only one thing. Volteer swooped down and landed among the crystals.

Ghostly beasts that belonged among the dead moved in the shadows, creatures that were unnatural and horrible. Volteer didn't much care; they were no threat to him. The creatures didn't dare approach, the few who had gotten to near to the other dragon had been burned and torn apart, and none of the apes who had seen that fate wanted to suffer a similar one.

He walked briskly through the tangled forest of crystals, following the traces of fire and the bones and scraps of slain apes that had been left behind. In only a minute he had found a small cave, and he heard sobbing from within.

A few skulls and bones littered the ground around the cave, some of them recently burned. Volteer walked inside and waited a moment for his eyes to adjust to the gloom.

Flare came into view, curled up against the rear wall of the cave, her face buried in the complex folds of her wing. She heard Volteer coming and sent a whip of fire at him with her tail.

Volteer ducked under the attack, Flare sent another fire wave at him, and Volteer shielded his face with his wings, allowing his hard scales to deflect the heat.

Even a dragoness with Flare's skill would need to try harder than that if she wanted to hurt a dragon. Flare didn't hear the sounds of whatever was bothering her running away, so she looked up to find out what it was.

She looked at Volteer sadly. "I thought you were an ape. I'm sorry."

"If I was an ape I'd have run away." Volteer said.

"That was the whole point." Flare responded, and then she tucked her head back under her wing. "I want to be alone."

Volteer stayed where he was. Flare knew he hadn't left, but she didn't have any more anger with which to drive him away. She'd spent all of her anger on the apes; sadness was all she had left.

At least he didn't try to talk to her, she didn't want him to. But at the same time she was glad that he stayed.

Long minutes went past, and Flare cried for some of them. Eventually she couldn't stand the rough surface of the cave floor. She shifted slightly, and as if he had read her mind Volteer came over to her and lay down beside her, gently sliding his wing under her for her to rest on. Flare didn't say anything, and Volteer, incredibly, stayed silent; but Flare was grateful, and they both knew it.

* * *

Dark Spyro was alone, and lonely.

He had found his way back to the Dragon Temple where he had been an egg. It was a complete mess; three quarters of the temple had been lifted from the earth and suspended above the volcano in the Burned Lands, where the Dark Master had made his home. The rest of the temple had been sacked and broken down until it was hardly recognisable.

It looked more like a big hole in the ground than a former dwelling, but Spyro still found enough about the place familiar to be lost in memories of it.

He recalled the first time he had come here, scared but determined, guided by Ignitus.

Dark Spyro growled slightly, thinking of the past was upsetting, reminding him of the things that he had lost.

The hurt with which Cynder looked at him still stung, did she think he was some sort of evil creature? He wasn't evil. He wasn't.

But he'd killed Imperia, he'd killed his friend. Spyro's friend, but also his.

Dark Spyro shook his head, he walked aimlessly across the blasted earth where the temple had once stood, and his thoughts turned to the future.

The future was bright and good, it had so much potential. There were so many things that Dark Spyro wanted to do. He could start right now.

Dark Spyro scooped up a pawful of earth and looked at it; he selected a crumbling part of wall that was still mostly intact and reached out towards it with his magic, ripping the stone out of the ground.

With his earth element he shaped the rock into a tall thin form, the form of an orc. He set the orc's insides aflame with a slow dull smouldering heat that would give it the strength it needed. Orcs were made, unlike grublins, dragons, or any other creature in the world. He could make them.

The final step of making an orc was the one he knew least about. How to animate the creature. Spyro hit the orc with a surge of purple energy, it jerked, he waited for several seconds but the creature showed no signs of life. He rested a paw on its rocky head and offered it some scraps of his power, but he felt no response.

Dark Spyro sighed in annoyance. Making orcs was easy, it required only earth and fire; bringing them to life was difficult. He forced his power into the creature, but he forced too hard and the coals within the orc glowed bright until the body was burned beyond repair.

Dark Spyro swiped at the orc, and its body tore apart easily under his claws. Perhaps orcs were not worth the effort. He could do everything himself; he had power enough to fight even Malefor, nothing in the dragon realms could stand against him.

Every moment Dark Spyro grew stronger, he could feel it, the power surging through him, looping back on itself and always building higher and higher. He was reaching his natural potential much faster in this form than Spyro ever had. It was a glorious feeling, but without a use for that power it felt somehow… empty.

He needed something to do, some cause to strive for, or test to accomplish. He had nothing to do with all of his strength.

Well, nothing but destroying the world, and that wasn't looking all that appealing at the moment.

Bright future? Hah, he'd been a fool to think so for even a moment. Nothing was brighter than his past. Dark Spyro had never been happier than he had been as Spyro.

How strange…

Dark Spyro tapped his claws thoughtfully. What had Spyro once had that he now didn't?

Of course.

Cynder.

That's what he was feeling. It was the absence of Cynder that was making everything feel wrong. The moment Dark Spyro realised this the idea crystallised, becoming so clear and absolute that he could hardly believe he hadn't noticed it instantly.

He loved Cynder, he needed her to complete his life. Or… perhaps he needed her dark side.

Cynder was like him. She had a dark side. The Terror of the Skies. Spyro had fought Cynder's dark form and defeated her. The Terror of the Skies was broken, destroyed, but perhaps she could be saved. He had to hope that she could be saved.

Dark Spyro looked at the world around him with new eyes, he felt as if he had been blind before, but suddenly everything was so obvious and made perfect sense.

He would go to Cynder and she would be his mate, they would end Malefor and then the two of them could have the world for their own for as long as they pleased.

When they got bored of it, if they ever did, then they could destroy it together, destroy everything so utterly that it would be as if it had never existed. And then the purple dragon and the black dragoness would be alone together, and they could go out together, the last light in the world blinking out in one final moment, with one final kiss.

The beauty of the vision brought tears to Dark Spyro's eyes. He wanted nothing more than that.

The idea inspired him, and filled his heart with hope.

He laughed slightly.

That's what he was. Not evil, not a monster. He was not the dark copy or a fallen hero. He had a dream, something to strive for.

In fact that thought gave him the idea for his name.

That vision was who he was now. Not Spyro.

Hope.

* * *

 **-4Dragons**


	41. Left With Nothing to Fight For

**Wow, it's been too long. I wish I'd been able to post more regularly. I haven't been idle, though, in fact I have something for you.**

 **It's a digital art drawing of Flare, I've spent months working on her, and I think it's my best drawing yet. The drawing will be up on my DeviantArt account either when this chapter is posted or shortly afterwards.**

 **I confess: I'm not a greatly talented artist. But I am a stubborn one, and no matter how long it takes I'll create _something_.**

 **My DeviantArt account is 'Always4Dragons' and thus far I've done pictures of Spyro, Imperia, and Flare. I hope you like it.**

 **Anyway I'm a writer more than an artist, so I won't chatter for any longer about things that aren't writing.**

 **Story now:**

* * *

"You see, this is why relationships between the guardians are an extremely poor idea. Volteer and Flare making eyes at each other while they had the position was bad enough. But then along comes Imperia, and she's just _unstable_ , causing chaos, no reasonable sense of dignity whatsoever, not only does she betray us all, only to then go on and become a triple crosser too for the sake of _Cynder_ , but then she goes and gets herself killed!"

Cyril was lecturing the unfortunate lightning dragon he had paired up with. The two of them had been searching the castle for nearly half an hour now, and Cyril had been putting together a rant in his head that desperately needed someone to listen to it.

Ordinarily he'd unload these pent up barrages of distilled pompousness on dragons who actually wanted to hear them, but this time he had only one target.

The electric dragon, whose name was Dash, had never done anything to deserve such a lecture, and he'd never wanted one. But unfortunately he was stuck with the higher ranking dragon at least until they'd found something interesting or finished searching the upper floors of Cynder's Fortress.

"Volteer, Imperia and Flare completely out of commission, all due to the death of one individual. More than half of the guardians gone the moment one dragon becomes a loose cannon! Not that I'm surprised. She always was this way, right from the beginning."

Dash rolled his eyes, he'd admired Imperia from a distance for her personality and her success in reaching high rank, and he looked up to Volteer, his fellow electric dragon. Cyril's tirade wasn't especially impressing him.

"The position of guardian shouldn't be played around with, Volteer and Flare made enough trouble without her in the mix as well. While she wasn't officially a guardian her behaviour was merely a problem, but once she got the position it simply became ridiculous! There are expectations that a guardian has to live up to, it's not only about elemental skill; it's about who you are, and if you have the ability and temperament for leadership. Fooling about isn't a trait that any decent guardian should have."

"Well what do you and Volteer do, then?" Dash muttered.

Cyril frowned at him. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Sorry master Cyril." Dash hurriedly said. "I had not meant for you to hear me. I… uh… I was merely stating that your discussions with Volteer have been rumoured to get… uh… Well…"

"Childish." Cyril finished the sentence for him. Dash yelped slightly, that had been the exact word he was too afraid to say, and then Cyril had said it himself.

He nodded hurriedly.

"Indeed." Cyril agreed. "I'm aware of that. I just…" He sighed. "Volteer needs reality to strike him over the head one of these days; if Imperia's death hasn't done it then he'll get hurt again eventually. I'm sure that at times my behaviour has been unbecoming of a dragon of my own nobility; but…" Cyril laughed unexpectedly. "He grates on my nerves. His maddening enthusiasm and generally odd behaviour. Hardly as bad as Imperia was, but then again Volteer has been a guardian for longer and so should have matured already."

Dash kept quiet, not risking making another comment. He'd been lucky that his first muttered note hadn't gotten him a telling off, and he didn't want to put himself in danger like that again. Cyril seemed to be winding down though.

"I suppose that it would be hypocritical of me to hold the actions of those younger three against them. I've done many foolish things in my time, and one thing that cannot be denied is that they've all gotten results despite their questionable methods. Flare arranged the peace treaty with the Old Fire dragons; Volteer has proven himself to be a master theorist and scientist, as wel las being an excellent leader when needed. Imperia has… well… she's Imperia, I can hardly say more about her then that. She may have been odd, and misbehaved, even to the point of being salacious, but she was certainly a capable individual. I have every confidence that I do not disrespect my glorious lineage by saying this: she would have made a truly great ice dragon."

With that Cyril stopped. Dash watched the ice dragon cautiously at first, worried that the lecture would restart at any moment, but then he saw sadness in Cyril's eyes and he realised that in truth the ice dragon was grieving, in his own way. Cyril ranted about all the things that Imperia had done wrong, and all the problems her death had caused, but that didn't mean that he was not also mourning for her.

For a moment Dash felt like he ought to put his wing around Cyril in comfort. But the electric dragon rapidly thought better of doing so. That would _definitely_ get him in trouble.

They walked in silence for some time after Cyril had finished his speech; the only sounds were their breath, and the soft noise of their paws hitting the marble floor.

The two of them wandered down a large corridor and stopped warily when they reached a door at its end. It was a very grand looking door, made of dull red wood with ornate golden handles.

Cyril, confident as ever, stepped forwards. Dash realised with horror that the ice guardian was about to knock. He wanted to give a warning, but he was too late.

Cyril banged his paw against the wood three times, making loud echoing sounds. He then lowered his paw and waited with quiet dignity.

Dash looked around, expecting something disastrous to happen, like spikes in the floor or a trapdoor with a monster behind it. But nothing happened.

It was about ten seconds later that a voice called out to them. Dash had never heard the voice before, but there was only one individual to which it could belong. Its tone was deep and impressive, but there was a grating edge to it that was unsettling.

"What?"

The dragon who had spoken was surely snarling. Nobody would sound that harsh unless they were snarling.

Cyril tilted his head coolly, considering this.

"Well, Dash, it appears that we have found Malefor." He said.

There was a moment's silence. Dash was not brave enough to respond.

Cyril smiled grimly and stood up. "Let's go say hello."

The ice guardian walked to the door, leaving Dash behind him. The electric dragon was paralysed by a combination of admiration for Cyril's bravery, along with terror for the lives of both the ice dragon and himself.

Cyril gave the door a push and it groaned open reluctantly. Dash hurriedly scrambled after Cyril, not wanting to be left behind.

Cyril strode into the room beyond, books lined the walls and a rich purple carpet covered the floor. The room was circular, as dragon architecture often was. There was a huge spiral staircase, leading upwards, in the centre of the room.

Malefor was sitting with his back to them, near the far wall of the room. His golden wings were spread wide but did not fully conceal the unmoving silver shape lying on the table in front of him.

The purple dragon turned his head, looking at them with eyes that were as cold as ice. His voice was edged with emotion, but seemed to be kept under control through force of will.

"I do not want to be disturbed. Cynder is the only dragon who I will allow in here."

Cyril returned Malefor's gaze steadily. "Why do you have Imperia's remains here? The other dragons will want to pay their respects to her."

Malefor laughed without any trace of humour. "I may yet be able to save her. Your presence will not help my concentration. Tell Cynder to come here, if she will. Nobody else is wanted or required. Not even Volteer."

Cyril looked at him with some surprise, taken back by Malefor's dismissal and demand. He was more than a little bit irritated. "I have no reason to do as you say. None of your actions have given me adequate cause to trust you, nor to acknowledge your demands."

The purple dragon growled slightly. "Get out."

Dash looked back and forth between the two dragons. He was intimidated by both of them, but the question was which one was he more scared of disobeying.

The answer, he soon discovered, was Malefor. Dash turned around and walked briskly to the door, he waited just outside it, hoping that Cyril would reach the same decision that he had.

Malefor tilted his head, his voice calmed. "That was a good move, lightning dragon. What's your name?"

Cyril made an outraged sound when Malefor dismissed the ice dragon from his attention; he looked around and saw that Dash had retreated. "We're not going just because you tell us to!" The ice dragon declared. Malefor continued to ignore him.

"My name is D-Dash…"

Malefor gave the lightning dragon a slight smile. "I'm pleased to meet you, Dash. Would you mind asking Cynder to come here? And tell her that I'd like her to come alone."

Dash nodded rapidly, making Cyril huff in indignation. The ice guardian was about to lecture the other dragon, but Dash decided to go and look for Cynder right away. He trotted briskly away, hoping desperately that Cyril would come with him and that praying neither of the two overly scary dragons would get angry.

Cyril took a moment to consider his options, which were limited. He could fight Malefor and lose, he could leave and lose the confrontation, or he could stay firm and try to talk Malefor into letting him get his way.

If he talked then he had at least a chance of winning here, while if he let Malefor order him around then according to his pride he would have lost. Cyril hated losing, but he also had to consider whether or not it was worthwhile trying to argue with Malefor. What did he have to gain, and what did he have to lose?

If he won then he'd get respect, and that was something that Cyril considered extremely important. Malefor was like the worst traits of both Cynder and Imperia, put together, and then armed with an amount of magic that could level entire cities. He was a wildcard in this world, yet another powerful unpredictable element that could cause vast amounts of chaos. Cyril wanted to have power over Malefor; _someone_ needed to be able to tell the purple dragon what to do, and more importantly what _not_ to do. It was not only a matter of principle that Cyril get Malefor's respect, it was also important to the safety of Warfang and the world as a whole.

However if he lost the argument and confrontation then he could end up dead or worse. Malefor had dragon time, and without a doubt he'd be able to kill Cyril using it without ever needing to engage in a fair fight. Should Cyril be lucky enough to get a 'fair' fight where Malefor did not use dragon time he would almost certainly still be killed. And if Malefor didn't kill him then perhaps the purple dragon would simply hurt him a bit before throwing him out of the room. That would be humiliating, and Cyril couldn't stand the thought if being humiliated.

But he could also walk away, saving this confrontation for another time. And perhaps this was in fact the best choice. It was certainly the easiest, the most practical, and it would be the best action for this specific mission. After all, the mission was to search the castle, not to try to talk Malefor into submission. And perhaps leaving Malefor alone at this moment would do more to gain the purple dragon's respect than arguing with him would.

Cyril and Malefor looked at each other silently for several long seconds. Cyril couldn't figure out what was going on behind those gleaming purple eyes. He was unaware that Malefor was trying to read Cyril's personality and finding it more difficult then he usually did with other dragons. Malefor was already tired, both physically and mentally, and the workings of Cyril's mind were not intuitive to him. Cynder and Spyro were easy to understand, and Terrador had been only slightly more of a puzzle. Cyril had pompous arrogance, but also a surprising amount of cunning and dedication to the causes that he chose to support. Malefor was struggling to determine how to manipulate Cyril, the ice guardian's motives were hard to redirect. Should he threaten Cyril? That probably wouldn't work, it would only make him more stubborn. Bribe him? Unlikely, the offer would just offend him. So how was Malefor to persuade him to go? Did he need to actually fight him?

Cyril, fortunately the weary purple dragon, had persuaded himself. The ice dragon sighed. "I do not trust you; still I have decided that this time I shall give you the privacy you request. Know that under no circumstances will I send Cynder here alone, so if she comes then it will be solely her choice. However I will not stop her if she wishes to come."

The ice dragon turned and walked away; Malefor used a slight gust of wind to close the doors after the departing figure, and he then sighed and sat down heavily.

After several seconds Malefor looked back at the bloodied remains of the wind dragoness. It was the detached and analytical part of his mind that allowed him to keep going, the part of his mind that was sure she could be brought back. His emotions were telling him to curl up and try to forget everything.

"Imperia… I really need some of your enthusiasm right now…"

There was no response, and it had been foolish to hope for one.

* * *

Cyril returned to the hall where the Warfang dragons had arrived just as Dash was getting into the telling of his tale. Technically the electric dragon should have been giving a report that was concise and practical, but seeing as Terrador, Flare and Cyril had not been around to demand such a report he had told the story in his own fashion. The others had been fascinated to hear Dash describe Malefor, and then Ember chimed in with her own perspective on her meeting with the ancient purple dragon, causing the conversation to get seriously sidetracked.

Cyril walked up and cleared his throat, pleased when the other dragons all immediately ceased their gossiping and stood to attention.

"Where is Volteer?" he asked briskly.

There were several uncomfortable glances from the small group. Eventually the earth dragoness Ivorii spoke up.

"Flare disappeared. Volteer went after her."

"What?" Cyril asked sharply. "Disappeared where?"

"We're not sure…" Ivorii admitted.

Cyril looked incredulous for a moment, and then he looked irritated. "That's not good enough, this is a dangerous situation and it is outrageous for you to allow dragons to wander off alone, not knowing where they're going or how long they expect they shall take."

"Volteer suggested that she'd go outside somewhere to be alone." Ember said helpfully. "And Flare had disappeared before we could do anything. Volteer asked to go alone, _and_ he was only able to guess where Flare had gone." The pink dragoness said. Cyril looked at her and nodded once, reluctantly accepting the explanation.

"I suppose that none of you had any way of making the situation any better, perhaps aside from one of you going with them. Nevertheless I want you all to do your utmost to ensure that such a situation does not occur again."

"Do we go after them?" Ivorii asked nervously.

Cyril tapped his claws, deciding. "No. Our force is already divided enough."

And then he paused as a thought struck him. He glanced around and soon spotted Cynder. The black dragoness was standing behind Ember, removed from the discussion. She had barely reacted to anything that had been said. Ember was taller, and Cynder's lowered stance had hidden her mostly from sight. Cyril looked towards her.

"Cynder, Malefor has asked to see you alone. I would not recommend that you go, I do not trust him."

Cynder looked at him, sensing that he hadn't finished his statement.

"I will not stop you if you choose to go." Cyril forced himself to say.

Cynder nodded once. "Good."

"We went left, took spiral stairs down two floors and then walked until we found a big corridor. He's in a library at the end of that corridor." Dash put in.

Cynder turned and began to walk away. Ember automatically followed her. "I'm coming too."

The black dragoness looked around and shook her head. "I'll be fine on my own, Ember. But thanks for volunteering."

"Then I'll wait outside the door if you want to talk to him alone." Ember said determinedly, but Cynder shook her head.

"No. I'll go alone."

Ember sighed and stopped. "Just be careful."

"I will be." Cynder said, and then she walked out of the room.

The mood among the group turned sombre, Cyril stood and watched the doors, nobody spoke for several minutes. Eventually Cyril walked to the doors and gazed out into the storm. "We'll go and get Volteer and Flare if they haven't returned in half an hour."

Dash spoke up nervously. "Do we tell them that Malefor thinks he can bring Imperia back?"

This caused a stir among the rest of the group and the other dragons all looked at each other with a mixture of hope and scepticism.

They all knew Malefor had come back from the dead, but he was evil, or at least intimidating. Friendly, kind, or 'good' people were a lot more likely to stay dead than the bad ones. At least, that's what the stories would say. Ever since the Darkmire dragon it had been a trait of the twisted and the sinister to rise again from a supposed death. Imperia did not fit the pattern.

Cyril looked at Dash with a raised eyebrow. The look clearly indicated Cyril thought the electric dragon had said something stupid.

"Why, may I ask, would we choose to not tell Volteer and Flare that their mate might have a chance at surviving?"

"Well… to not get their hopes up?" Dash said defensively. He thought he'd asked a reasonable question. "To make sure they stay focused without getting distracted or upset by the idea, and to make sure they don't race off to try to find Malefor?"

"All excellent points." Cyril agreed. "And I had no intention of telling them that information for those exact reasons." Cyril was still giving him the 'you idiot' expression.

Dash swallowed nervously. "What did I do?"

"I'm glad you asked. You see, when you have a piece of information like that, which might cause harm if heard by the wrong dragons… how about you wait and ask me about it _privately_ , perhaps?"

"Oh." Dash stood there for a few seconds, then realised he should have smacked his face with his paw, but by the time he thought of that it was too late to do it, so he just had to stand there. "Right…"

Cyril swept a chilly gaze over the other dragons. "All I know is that Malefor claims he _might_ be able to save her. For the reasons Dash stated I am ordering you not to tell anyone of this. The others need to focus on their mission, and I would have preferred that all of you remained unaware as well."

If this offended any of the others then they did not risk letting Cyril see that, but Ember felt strongly enough about the topic to risk speaking up.

"Why didn't you tell Cynder? She needed to know." The pink dragoness looked at Cyril with stubborn defiance.

The ice guardian shrugged. "Perhaps. But it's too late to be concerned about that now. I want you all to focus on the task at hand. That means waiting here, being ready to defend ourselves from attack or go to the aid of any other Warfang dragons. Volteer and Flare will have to look after themselves."

* * *

Cynder reached the door that Dash had described in just a few minutes. The other two dragons had needed to search every door on their way, but Cynder glanced only briefly side to side and saw nothing that caught her interest.

She rapped on the door three times, the sharp sounds echoing to her sensitive hearing. Only a moment later Malefor called out from inside.

"Who is it?"

Malefor's voice sounded different to how it had before, it was strained, not nearly as smooth and collected. Cynder opened her mouth to respond, but then paused. She hadn't spoken a single word since telling the others what had happened to Imperia, and suddenly she didn't quite trust her voice.

The door opened and Malefor looked out. "Ah, Cynder. I'm glad that you've come. Won't you come inside?" He stepped out of her path so she could walk through the door.

Cynder did so, giving Malefor a cursory observation as she walked past him. His appearance reflected his voice, he looked strained and tired. She was going to talk, but then she noticed the still form of a dragon lying on a nearby table.

Cynder walked slowly up to Imperia's remains, her eyes blurring again with tears. The silver dragoness looked peaceful and beautiful, with a slight smile on her face still. There was an ugly wound in her belly, and blood cracked and dried on her scales, but nothing else was out of place.

As she got closer, however, Imperia's stillness felt wrong. Her body was cold and lifeless, looking at it was sad, it hurt Cynder's throat and gave her a tightness in her chest.

Malefor tilted his head, his curiosity sparked to life by Cynder's actions. Had she not been told that he planned to bring Imperia back? It did appear that way. She thought that Imperia was gone. Malefor had found that thought too painful to contemplate, but to Cynder it was a reality that she hadn't seen any hope of escaping.

"How do you do it?" Malefor asked softly. "How do you cope with this kind of loss?"

Cynder looked back at him, her voice quavered as she replied. "Because I have to."

Malefor nodded. "I understand…"

"I doubt you do." Cynder turned away. "You knew her for a week at most. I can hear her voice every time there is silence around me, and see her smile whenever I close my eyes. She's done so much for me, some things that made me happy, other things that hurt me. She nearly ruined my life, but she was for years the only thing that gave me hope. Do you really think that you understand what I'm feeling?"

Malefor shook his head, growling ever so slightly at Cynder's comment. "I doubt she ever told you, even though she always wanted to. I talked to Imperia every night for over thirty years. I had never met her face to face, it's true, and I never heard her real voice until only a day ago. But to say that I didn't know her is wrong. I knew her very well, and she is precious to me beyond words."

Cynder did not reply, but her expression grew unsure as she considered Malefor's words.

"She wanted to tell you everything, she said so to me many times. Perhaps it would have been easier if she had." Malefor chuckled ever so slightly. "Although I was still rather surprised when she actually did tell you the truth. I had thought she'd at least wait until my plan had succeeded."

"How… How do you cope with it, then?" Cynder said haltingly.

Malefor gazed into her eyes for a moment. He had noticed her eyes were green before, but he had never really looked at them. Cynder's eyes had a fierce and proud gaze, daring the world to challenge her, but there was also a lot of sadness there. Maybe he could help bring warmth back to her emerald eyes.

"Cynder… You remember the purple crystal that I had on a pedestal in the fortress?"

"Of course. You used it to come back to life."

"Technically I used it to avoid dying." Malefor corrected. "It anchors the life force of a dragon, preventing them from leaving this world. Imperia knew how to use it, and when we arrived here to stop Spyro she left us for several minutes."

Cynder looked at him. "Are you trying to tell me that Imperia might be alive?"

"Yes I am." Malefor nodded.

"But… surely only a purple dragon could use the crystal?" Cynder asked warily, unwilling to raise her hopes too far.

"It would have been little use to its creators if that was the case." Malefor said with a faint smile. "I believe that there was only ever a single purple dragon that lived in the world of the Artisans. A great hero, to be sure, but not so special as to have an object like this created solely for his or her use. No, the Magic Crafters designed this crystal so it could be used by any dragon who knew how to operate it."

"Imperia used it?" Cynder asked.

"Yes, I am certain of that." Malefor nodded. He walked past Cynder to the far side of the room and retrieved the crystal from where it had been resting out of the way on a bookshelf. "I retrieved it from where it belongs, it had not been moved, and yet the magic within it no longer bore my signature, meaning another dragon had used it since I did. What remains of Imperia is here."

Cynder couldn't help but giggle ever so slightly at that, but it wasn't a giggle of amusement. The idea of being bound inside a crystal was very unsettling, but in such a way that Cynder felt an urge to laugh. It got worse when Malefor passed the crystal to her. Cynder gazed into its purple surface, it was slightly transparent, she could see through the crystal to make out the faint outline of the paw she was holding it with.

At first the piece of rock didn't look as if it could contain anything of interest, let alone the life of a dragon, but as Cynder looked closely she noticed that the stone was generating its own trace amounts of mana, and that the purple hue of its insides was flickering ever so slightly. The mana was faint but distinct, and it felt like Imperia.

"Take care with that." Malefor said. "It has survived aeons unharmed and unfaded, but if you managed to break it now it would be extremely unfortunate."

"Do you really think I would break it?" Cynder looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

Malefor's mood brightened somewhat as he saw Cynder was slowly recovering her usual confidence and sassiness. "You and Imperia ruined my plan, and my plan was as near to perfect as a plan could have been. I thought it was infallible, and yet…" Malefor hesitated for a moment. Now seemed a poor time to mention Spyro, so he hurriedly changed from his intended sentence. "And yet you still managed to mess it up. I have decided that in all future calculations I shall set no upper limit on your ability to wreck things I thought were unbreakable."

Cynder wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not. She might have taken it as an insult, but Malefor had spoken with a degree of respect.

"It won't be easy designing plans that still function with a potentially infinite variable involved; I'd certainly prefer not to oppose you again."

"Is that meant to be an apology?" Cynder asked.

"No." Malefor said. "It was meant to be a preliminary comment that would eventually lead to a less tense conversation. Which, put simply, means that I'm just trying to be polite. Antagonism between us now serves no purpose. After all we have nothing to fight over, and no reason to distrust each other."

Cynder made a noncommittal sound.

Malefor sighed. "I need to heal Imperia before attempting to bring her back. Healing wounds made in dragons by the Dragonslayer is not easy; it damages not only A dragons body but also our magic, making the damage difficult to heal. It will take time. We can talk while I'm working, don't you think?"

Cynder nodded. "I guess so. But what shall we talk about?"

Malefor laughed slightly. "I usually have an agenda in mind before entering any discussion. But this time I fear I have nothing." The purple dragon moved over to Imperia and hovered a paw over her belly. The wound there glowed slightly purple and the dried blood on her scales was wiped away, however the wound itself didn't change.

Cynder watched what he was doing. She knew nothing about healing, but at least it didn't seem to be making things worse. She decided to just watch and talk to him. "I'm not really one for random conversation either. Although there are exceptions. Imperia is one of the dragons who I find it easy to talk to, and Spyro is another." She laughed to hide how much it had hurt to say the names. "I'm running out of dragons to talk to."

"I was thinking much the same thing." Malefor agreed. "The two of them are among the only dragons I've ever had a casual talk with. The rest of the time it's been about hidden agendas and manipulation. We'd better bring them back, or else we might go mad."

"Yeah…" Cynder nodded thoughtfully, and then she smiled slightly. "It could be a lot worse I guess, we have a chance at least."

"We have many possible chances, although one will be enough if we utilise it properly."

* * *

 **I had a good time writing Cyril in this chapter; but overall I'm not so pleased with how it turned out. Certainly I wish that the first chapter I'd posted in months was better than this one.**

 **Still, maybe I'm being to harsh on myself. What do you think? How could I have improved this chapter, and what did I do well? I'd be grateful for some advice.**

 **Until next time!**

 **-4Dragons**


	42. Return

It felt incredible to finally have a purpose again. Cynder was his purpose, but Hope did not intend to seek her out. She would come to him when it was time. She had to.

Before then, however, Hope had a few things to do.

There were things he wanted to do, such as testing each of his elements out to determine his current powers. He hoped to arrange fights with each of the guardians, so that he could fight them using their own elements to see if he had surpassed them. If he hadn't then he would undoubtedly need to train, raw power was only ever useful to a certain degree. Skill was what he truly needed now. If he had surpassed them… perhaps he would kill them. Hope wasn't entirely sure what he ought to do if he was indeed better than the Guardians.

That was a decision to be made later, though. He could practice on other dragons first to decide if he was ready to fight the guardians. He recalled an electric dragon from Warfang who might make a useful opponent, but couldn't remember his name exactly. There was also Gracious, killing him would certainly be an interesting challenge, Gracious was comparable to Cyril in terms of power, and worthwhile in that it would also annoy Malefor.

However those were the things that he wanted to do, there was first something which he felt that he needed to do.

Hope flew low over the ground, using the wind to speed his journey. It was a wonderful element, and he looked forwards to mastering it. He was almost sad that Imperia was dead and could not teach him, but no doubt Cynder would help him once they were reunited at last. He missed Cynder a lot already.

Spyro's body was still fundamentally the same, Hope had only altered it slightly by turning his horns outwards to make them more suitable for slashing, as well as lengthening them and toughening them. His tail blade was sharper and more lethal; and his crest was too, not that he planned to kill anyone with the back of his head.

He didn't know how to change his scale colours, meaning that he was constantly a bloodied purple colour that was almost pink, with streaks of wispy darkness occasionally tracing his scales. He had no shadow magic, sadly, so Hope wasn't sure what the purpose of the darkness around him was. It was simply there and not going away.

His eyes had unsettled him at first too; they were yellow and snakelike with slitted pupils. They were bestial eyes, which Hope didn't entirely like. He was scared that they might upset Cynder too, and that would be awful. He was nervous about how she'd react to his appearance, which was one of the reasons why he felt that he had to do what he was going to do. It would reassure her that his feelings hadn't changed. It was odd having yellow slitted eyes, but as far as he could tell they had no effect on his sight. He didn't see everything tinted in shades of yellow; he still had normal clarity and a normal visual field.

He'd alter his eyes once he figured out how to do it, and he also wanted to figure out how to heal himself with purple light and prevent himself from feeling pain. As he flew Hope idly swiped his left foreleg with his right paw, repeatedly cutting his scales and watching them heal. It was taking far too long, Malefor could heal in seconds. It also stung him annoyingly, unless he cut too deep in which case it hurt a lot more; and he kept on cutting too deeply due to his new strength. Before his change he would have needed a great deal of effort to pierce his own scales, but now it was pitifully easy.

Hope was startled when a voice called out to him; he had been lost in his thoughts and hardly even noticed where he was flying. He left the voice behind due to his speed before it could intercept him, but he halted once he noticed it, and then he had to turn and wait for it to catch up.

The voice belonged to a young dragoness of about his age; she had pale blue scales with eye catching patterns of swirling red. The dragoness flapped hard to catch up with him, and was panting slightly when she arrived. Hope smiled at her politely, but noticed disturbed look on her face when she caught sight of his eyes.

"Spyro?" She asked doubtfully.

So she knew him. That was good; she might be able to get him into Shattershelf without him needing to make a fuss. It was gratifying to be identified too, after all the Warfang dragons had saved those of Shattershelf from what might otherwise have been a long and dangerous siege. They deserved a bit of respect in his opinion.

The fire dragon city of Shattershelf was Hope's destination; he had been drawn here by a strange sense of purpose and had flown through the night to arrive as soon as possible. Now he'd flown through the mountain pass, the same route that Spyro and Cynder had taken to get here on their previous visit.

It was irritating that the blue dragoness had called him Spyro; but at least she hadn't mistaken him for Malefor. Hope wouldn't get annoyed with her, as there was no reason for her to have known what his name was now. He merely nodded. "Yes it's me."

The blue dragon regarded him with caution. "You look… different…"

Hope nodded, a plausible lie easily coming to him. "Malefor captured me and exposed me to dark magic. I'll change back to normal eventually I think, but for now I'm like this."

"Oh." The dragoness thought about that for a moment. "But… how are you here?"

"I escaped. I'll spare you the details, but it was painful." This was technically true. "I fled because I was weakened. I wasn't ready to try to fight him then, but next time I'll kill him. And why come here? I'm not sure; I just felt that I needed to. Besides it's closer to where I was than Warfang is."

This was also technically true, aside from the detail about Shattershelf being closer to Cynder's fortress. That part was a lie, but the blue dragoness had no way of knowing where he had been held and therefore had no reason to disbelieve.

She still didn't seem quite convinced, though. These Shattershelf fire dragons were a suspicious group, and the way that she looked at him did not give him much hope that Cynder would like his current appearance. She opened her mouth to speak again, but Hope quickly tried a simple trick of deception: If someone suspects you then talk about them instead.

"Hang on… I think I've seen you before in Shattershelf. Cynder and I were only there for a day, but… you were hanging around with Ember, weren't you?"

"Ember is my friend, yes." The dragoness admitted. "I'm surprised that you remembered that, I don't think we ever talked."

"We didn't." Spyro confirmed. "But I still remembered your scale colour. Not many blue dragons in Shattershelf."

"That's true. We're still fire dragons, but I was born in a city further to the south, deeper in the desert, out at a place called Dry Canyon."

Hope had never heard of this place, and he didn't care, but it had allowed him to stop talking about himself and his appearance. "So what's your name?" he asked.

The dragoness blushed slightly that he'd asked. Spyro was a hero after all, and she hadn't expected him to remember her or even take notice of her now. "My name is Ceara."

"It's nice to finally make your acquaintance. But what are you doing out here?"

Where actually were they? Hope glanced around to remind himself. He was midway through the mountain pass that led from the north towards Shattershelf. The guard towers were on the mountainsides around them.

Ceara glanced around too. "Guard duty. This pass needs to be watched so that the city isn't surprised by dragons arriving. There are a few other dragons up there, but we're still repairing the gates and walls so most of the guards are busy. I'm old enough to do shifts of guard duty, and also I don't know how to help the rebuilding teams, so this is what I'm stuck with. I've only got another two hours before I can go back into the city; it feels like forever. I've been out here for ages now."

Hope nodded. "I see. I take it you don't like guard duty?"

"No, it takes me away from my class and my friends."

"Ahh, that makes sense." Hope said. "I'd love to talk, but can we talk on our way into the city?"

"Right." Ceara nodded and began to lead Hope towards Shattershelf.

The two of them flew over the great plains of Shattershelf, passing by at least fifty dragons that were busy clearing rubble and dead orcs away from what remained of the dividing walls. The huge gate had been repaired, it was impressive that they'd managed to get that done so quickly; then again they would have had plenty enough motivation to do so; given that without it the city was open to anyone.

The dragons all seemed stressed; many of them glanced up at Hope warily as he flew, although because of Ceara's presence he was not bothered by them.

Hope had a sudden interesting thought, one that he would have probably been too polite to ask aloud if he had still been just Spyro. "Aren't the Apes allies of Shattershelf? Where are they? I noticed not seeing them on my last visit."

"The apes fled the city many years ago. Didn't you know?" Ceara looked at him. "Malefor cursed them all, even those that never allied with him and never had anything to do with him."

Now _that_ was interesting. He had known that the Dark Master had cursed the apes to living death, but he'd never learned the magic that the Dark Master had used. Hope had not yet encountered any powers that would allow him to curse even creatures he had never met. "How did he curse them?"

Ceara shivered. "It was the most horrific thing I'd ever seen… I… I had friends who were apes, you know, everyone in Shattershelf did."

"I noticed Magmar seemed pretty keen to kill Malefor. I take it he was mad that the purple dragon cursed half of his citizens?"

"Oh yes. His anger might have been the most awful thing I'd ever seen, aside from that I had to watch my friends rot while they were still alive."

"And nobody thought to mention this to Warfang!?" For a moment Hope forgot who he now was, Spyro would have been empathetic for the apes and the dragons of Shattershelf; and some of that emotion cut through into the conscious mind of the darker dragon.

"You're outsiders." Ceara muttered. "We were not supposed to tell any of the dragons Flare came with."

"But I'm not technically a dragon who came with Flare, and the dragon who ordered that is dead." Hope said, amused.

"Asha ordered it, not Magmar." Ceara responded. "But the order doesn't count anymore. You asked, and I've lied about it enough."

Hope titled his head curiously; unaware that it was a very Spyro-ish thing to do. What he was actually interested in was the curse that the Dark Master had used, but he felt compelled to ask other questions first. "What do you mean you've lied about it enough?"

"Ember could tell. As I said she became my friend, and she knew there was something I was hiding from her, something that upset me. She can be very _very_ persistent when she tries to be, but I didn't dare tell her because I'd get in trouble."

"That sounds like her." Hope mused.

The two of them landed at a side door, perhaps the same one that Spyro and Cynder had entered the city through. Ceara walked inside and Hope followed. Ceara briefly explained to another guard dragon why 'Spyro' had arrived, and said she was taking him to see Asha immediately. The guard accepted this, and Hope followed Ceara into the main part of Shattershelf.

"Now what do you know about this curse?"

Ceara looked back at him, not impressed by his demand for information. Hope waited, idly deciding if he should just quickly kill her now. Nobody was around to see.

Fortunately for Ceara, she decided to just answer him. "I don't know much. According to the dragons who did research the curse is called a 'Blood Curse' and it is designed to affect every single member of a family. One family member is sacrificed, and depending on how the ritual is done all of the other members of the family will suffer some fate. The way to make someone rot while they're still alive is to bury the sacrifice alive, after you're done with the magic. We tried for a year to cure it and the whole city stank of rotten meat, but nothing worked. Eventually all the apes went insane with pain and fear. That's all I know and I'd rather not talk about it anymore…"

"I understand. That must have been awful. Can we visit the training field before we go to Asha?"

Ceara blinked at him uncomprehendingly. "I'm sorry, what?"

"The training field." Hope repeated. "Can we go there?"

"I… I suppose… it's not really on the way, though."

Hope only shrugged.

Ceara was getting more and more unsettled by the dragon wearing Spyro's face and speaking in his voice. Both physically and mentally he seemed to be affected by wrongness… twisted and darkened somehow. But they were inside the city now, so there wasn't much she could do anymore. If she'd made a mistake letting him in then the mistake was already made. "Sure, let's go to the training fields."

Hope and Ceara walked for a few minutes, and Ceara had decided she was ditching him as soon as possible and calling the guards. There was something very wrong with Spyro. Hope walked silently, he glanced at her briefly and noticed she seemed to be getting nervous, but he no longer cared. He wasn't really trying to hide anymore. _"I hope that I like what I find at the training fields. If not, well… things could get messy."_

Oh yes, now she was _definitely_ worried, but too scared to say anything. Hope didn't care to watch her squirm in fear, just the knowledge that she was doing it was enough.

Ceara was panicking on the inside, and her walking was unsteady. He knew she knew, of course he knew. He'd _told_ her that he… well... she wasn't entirely sure what he'd been telling her. Was he threatening her? Threatening everyone? Was it a joke, was it bragging, or trying to tell her to run away? All she knew was that it had been scary.

The two of them walked into the training field. At first Ceara thought it was empty and panicked, ready to run for it rather then find out how things would get messy, then she realised one dragon was there. The same dragon that spent practically all of his spare time there. The dragon who, probably for that reason, was the most skilled young adult fire dragon in the city.

Something told Ceara that this dark version of Spyro was satisfied with what he'd found at the training fields.

" _Suna, you and I need to have a chat about Cynder."_

A savage grin crossed Hope's features.

* * *

Malefor finally stepped away from Imperia's still form; the wound on the silver dragoness' chest was gone. However Malefor had obviously expended a considerable amount of effort on healing that. The spear had damaged Imperia in a manner that went beyond physical harm.

"We wouldn't want her to die again the moment she came back." Malefor muttered.

"Could that actually happen?" Cynder asked, trying to imagine what it would look like. She paced around the room, feeling somewhat restless. She sashayed slightly to try to relax, but only because Malefor wasn't looking in her direction.

"No, it couldn't. If her body wasn't able to live then she wouldn't come back at all, she'd just have to wait for it to heal properly. Which eventually it would. I couldn't come back to life immediately because my body was far too damaged, and it took months to heal."

Cynder frowned. Malefor had taken years to come back, not months. "So… was there something else you had to wait for?"

"Indeed." Malefor said with wry amusement. "Three things are needed. We have Imperia's remains, and we have the crystal. But the last thing we need is her manifestation."

"I have no idea what that is." Cynder admitted. She stopped and looked back at the purple dragon over her shoulder. Malefor turned to face her. Neither of them wanted to look at Imperia's body, it didn't feel right to see her lying still and lifeless.

"Think of it like a ghost. It will be drawn towards the crystal, and hopefully it will arrive here quickly. Once we have it, it should be a simple matter to bring her back to life. My manifestation took years because the crystal and my body were far apart; and both were distantly separated from my place of death in the centre of the planet."

"So we just have to wait?"

"Yes. But I don't think we shall be waiting for long."

Cynder was silent for a moment, but then her curiosity compelled her to keep on asking questions. "So… I pretty much understand how you came back and how the crystal works, now; but how did you actually die? Spyro and I didn't kill you. It looked like the spirits of the Ancestors took you inside the core of the planet."

Malefor nodded. "I myself am not entirely sure. Certainly I was killed, but according to Imperia my remains were eventually found on the surface. Had the Dark Master not been in control, and most of my energy spent on the fight that had taken place, I might have been able to learn more of what transpired then."

"So you don't know?" Cynder asked.

"Well… no." Malefor admitted. "But I'd like to find out."

"Hmm…" Cynder responded neutrally, wondering if Malefor had an actual plan to find out what had happened in the centre of the world. He probably did, and it was probably something to worry about.

There was a sound from behind the door, as if something had bumped against it. Malefor and Cynder glanced at each other, and both of them started to walk towards the door at the same moment. Cynder was closer, so she stretched out her tail and tugged the door open.

A… thing… stood outside.

It was a dragon, certainly, but it seemed to have no defining features at all. It was grey, plain and unmemorable. It just… was.

It didn't seem threatening at all, but even just to look at it was unsettling. Cynder stepped back, watching the dragon, to see what it would do. For a brief moment it looked at her, but then it seemed to forget all about her.

The dragon glanced around the room, seeming hesitant, then it walked straight across to where Imperia's remains lay. It reached her, and then its tail stretched out and touched the crystal.

There was a flash of silver light, and the figure melded into Imperia's body.

The silver dragoness made a slight sigh, breathing out what little air was in her lungs, and then she twitched. For a moment she seemed lifeless again, but soon she began to breathe shallowly, her chest rising and falling.

"Is that… it?" Cynder asked.

"I think so, yes." Malefor said, his eyes now fixed on Imperia.

"Oh. It just seemed a bit… uneventful."

"The more eventful something is; the greater the risk it will go wrong." Malefor told her. "I for one am glad that nothing surprising happened. I've had enough surprises for one day."

"Is it still the same day?" Cynder asked, and then answered her own question. "No, it's been hours. It must be really early morning by now."

"I've lost track of time." Malefor admitted. "But let's not let a little thing like reality get in the way of saying a clichéd phrase."

"That sounds like something Imperia would say."

"I agree."

"Fair enough. I think I've had enough surprises for one day too." Cynder said with a faint smile.

Malefor took a breath to relax before speaking again. "Then I ought to warn you, I might shout at Imperia when she regains consciousness. I've never lost my temper with another dragon before, and I'm not entirely sure what sort of action I may take in order to vent my frustration."

Malefor looked at Cynder to gauge her reaction to that, but the black dragoness wasn't really giving him much that he could use to figure her out.

"I can restrain myself from lashing out at anything or anyone, I assure you. I don't lose control in that manner." Malefor sighed. "I'm too emotional; it's interfering with my intelligence."

"Don't worry." Cynder said. "I'm not exactly happy with Imperia either."

There was a sound of response to Cynder's words, and it wasn't Malefor who made it. The two dragons both turned and looked, seeing Imperia's eyes open and slowly focus on them.

The silver dragoness didn't shift her position at all, but her eyes were keen and alert. She managed to twitch her lips upwards slightly in a smile. "It's good to be back."

Cynder was the first one to reply, feeling concern for Imperia first and leaving all other emotions to be dealt with later. "Are you alright?" She asked gently. Imperia's voice was weak and she certainly didn't look healthy.

Imperia tried to laugh, but the only thing she could manage was a heavy sigh; still at least it was an amused sound. "I feel awful, but at least I'm not dead anymore." Her smile grew slightly. "Although… Malefor and Cynder in one room, both taking care of me, and not trying to kill each other. I may not be back in the world I left after all."

Cynder and Malefor glanced at each other, and Cynder shrugged.

"Things worked out well." Imperia said hopefully, her tone making the statement sound like a question.

Malefor narrowed his eyes. "No, things did not work out well. Perhaps you were able to salvage something from this fiasco, but it was not a success."

"I got the two of you together." Imperia offered, trying to defend herself from Malefor's glare. She looked too dazed to hold a serious conversation.

"At the cost of letting Spyro escape; and almost getting yourself, him, Cynder, and or myself killed."

"Well…" Imperia hesitated, not really sure what to say.

"Not to mention that if you had simply come with me and been ready to talk to Cynder when I needed you then this entire situation could have been avoided."

"I wanted to make sure we had a backup plan…" Imperia mumbled.

"We both know that isn't true. You wanted a brilliant success. My plan wasn't good enough for you, you had to set everything up so that Cynder and I would befriend one another, and of course so that you could have your grand moment."

Imperia didn't reply, but she looked away from Malefor guiltily; she knew that he was speaking the truth.

"Did you even stop to think about the risk you were taking? You gained a chance at resurrection by going behind my back. Spyro could have killed me permanently, and if he'd known he could do that then he almost certainly would have. Don't mistake my anger for ingratitude, I know that you saved my life, but you also caused my life to be in much greater danger than it needed to be. Was it worth it?"

Malefor paused for a split second, but then continued.

"Don't answer that. Either you'd get it wrong or right, and either way your reply would annoy me even more. The answer is no, the risk you took was not worth the gains you made."

"You two needed to stop fighting." Imperia countered. "Sadness would make you trust each other more than anything else would. At least my plan worked for that, so it wasn't totally awful; right?"

"If a stupid plan works it is still a stupid plan. All it means is that you were lucky. Imperia please, please just don't do anything like this ever again."

Imperia nodded, chastened. "I'll try not to."

Malefor sighed heavily. "I'm glad I was able to say all of that without shouting. Believe me I am angry, but I'm mostly glad that you're alright."

"Umm… me too…" Cynder said awkwardly.

Malefor looked back at her, having almost forgotten she was in the room. "I'll give you two some privacy." He said, walking away. He went to spiral stairs, ascending them and leaving the other two alone.

* * *

Cynder looked at Imperia. Imperia looked back at Cynder. The silver dragoness spoke first.

"Can I have a hug?"

Cynder flicked her tail. "I guess so." She stepped over Imperia and wrapped a wing around her.

Imperia purred slightly, leaning against Cynder's side. Her voice, however, was sad. "I never heard weather you forgave me or not. And even if you did then it would probably be wise of me to ask your forgiveness again for all the pain that it caused you to think I was dead."

Cynder raised an eyebrow. "What makes you assume that you being dead caused me any pain at all?"

Imperia was, once again, unsure what to say until she caught sight of Cynder's smile. "Oh didn't it? Those tears of yours must have been fake then." She responded playfully. "Still this is good for me, because it means I have one less thing to be forgiven for."

Cynder laughed. "It's ok. You're forgiven for everything. Well, at least until I need to claim the moral high ground over you for any reason."

"Tough but fair." Imperia said. "Although I am still sorry, and I hope that nothing like this ever happens again."

"Too much drama for you?" Cynder asked with a smile.

Imperia shook her head. "No. I love drama. I don't want to do this again because it was scary and dangerous and it really hurt. I wouldn't take back what I did, but I certainly didn't enjoy it."

"So what was it like? Being dead?" Cynder asked.

Imperia shrugged. "It wasn't really like anything. The only things that really happened were me dying and me coming back. And let me tell you that death by being speared is horribly painful, but it still feels slightly better than being resurrected."

"I'll keep that in mind. Can you lift your head?" Cynder asked.

"Nope. I'd shake my head now if I could, but I can't. I don't think I could get up either, although maybe I could lift myself around using wind magic until I regain some strength. I want to go and find Volteer and Flare as soon as I can."

"How long do you think it'll be before you heal?"

Imperia shrugged. "A few days, maybe? I don't know but I'm sure I'll be fine. But what about you? Are you alright, Cynder?"

The black dragoness sighed slightly. "I guess I'm not feeling awful. But… Spyro is gone."

"It'll be ok, Cynder. We'll figure out a way to help him."

"Of course we will." Cynder said confidently. "I just wish we could do it right away…"

"I know how you feel." Imperia agreed. "You don't want to waste time. Still there isn't much point in rushing off to find Spyro at the moment, we'll need a plan."

"A better plan than yours, I hope." Cynder said with a smirk.

"Hey, my plan was brilliant. I even got Malefor to show genuine emotion only a few moments ago. That was all part of the plan."

"You wanted him to be mad at you?" Cynder asked, sceptical.

"Well no, but I wanted him to show he cared."

"I see. Well, I guess that you got what you wanted."

"I often do." Imperia said with a smile. "So while we've got some time together I'd simply love to hear everything about what you've been up to since you left Warfang."

"Okay." Cynder said. "And I want to know how you finally managed to become a guardian, and what happened to you after I left, and also I want the whole story about you and why you support Malefor. I think you and I have a lot to talk about."

"Yes we do." Imperia agreed.

* * *

 **Often I'll sit on a chapter after I finish it for a while, just brooding, like Smaug on his treasure horde. Or perhaps that's a bad example, after all Smaug essentially spent sixty years being lazy and not doing a whole lot, after he finally made enough gold by stealing from hapless dwarves. Yeah, that's definitely a bad example.**

 **Still I usually wait for a while before posting a chapter. This time, however, I finished writing the chapter on a Thursday before posting it on Friday. Woohoo! Now I can be shot by a black arrow and go down in a literal blaze of glory.**

 **Smaug is not a good analogy for being a writer. If you take away nothing else from this (bad) author's note then take away that.**  
 **Maybe just forget this end bit entirely and think about the chapter instead.**

 **Until next time!**

 **-4Dragons**


	43. Reunions

**Empire State of Mind, by Alica Keys ( _by_ her, not featuring her) is the song that I listened to the most when I was motivated to get words written for this chapter. It took some time to come by motivation for writing this chapter, and it was a difficult one to write even when I was in the mood.**

 **Hopefully my struggles will make no difference to you, and hopefully it won't take me long to regain the inspired high that makes me love writing so much.**

 **For Imperia meeting Volteer and Flare again I have a song suggestion: Wherever You Will Go, by The Calling.**

* * *

Volteer and Flare emerged from their cave together. The two of them had lain there for a long while, perhaps too long. They needed to get back to the others. Volteer had a comforting wing wrapped around Flare. Flare was quiet, trying not to show how upset she still was. Imperia was gone, but that wasn't the end of the world.

Both of them wanted to just grieve, but there were other things that needed to be dealt with first, like the impending threat of the end of the world.

Flare and Volteer took off and rose above the forest of crystals. As they left the dead things began to squeal and chatter below them, glad the invaders had left their home.

As they circled back towards the fortress Flare spotted a dragon flying to intercept them. She spoke just loudly enough for Volteer to hear her. "Incoming dragon on your left. Doesn't look aggressive. Adult, ice dragon, male."

Volteer nodded in acknowledgement at Flare's brisk explanation, it was strictly practical so that he would have some idea of what was going on with only a few words needing to be spoken. "Cyril?" He asked. There had been another ice dragon that had come to Cynder's old fortress with their group, but it'd be far more likely that Cyril would be the one to come searching for them. Volteer turned to look; Flare beat her wings once to hover beside him.

The dragon who approached was not Cyril, and indeed he was not an ice dragon despite his blue colour.

It was Ignitus.

Volteer nearly fell out of the air; two bombshells in one day rendered even him speechless. However he was too worried about Flare to react immediately, at least until he'd seen her response to this.

Ignitus had taught Flare practically everything, training her to replace him as fire guardian. He'd trained her for over forty five years before Spyro and Cynder had been born, and then nearly eight more years while the purple and black eggs had been lost. As his fellow dragons had fallen and the other guardians, including the young Volteer, had been captured, Ignitus had become more and more distant; and once he had completed Flare's training he had seemed to lose all of his will to live. He had been a mighty dragon in his prime before the temple raid, but he had seemed to age by a hundred years in the decade after it. It hadn't been until Ignitus met Spyro that he had begun to come back into the world.

Flare had never gotten to see that change, she'd only been told about it by Volteer, Cyril and Terrador, the last she had thought she'd ever see of Ignitus was a weak, weary, sad eyed dragon who had only remnants of the glory she remembered.

But here he was, flying towards them now, somehow alive. And the blue colour wasn't the change that Flare focused on; it was the change in his expression that meant the most to her.

Ignitus looked calm in a way she had never seen before, his eyes were sombre and seemed to be full of memory. He had the same strength he'd lost long ago, but it was as if his fiery temper had cooled along with the colour of his scales.

There was something about him, a sort of peacefulness… Part of Flare wanted to be angry. Long ago, and for so long, she had wanted to rage at Ignitus to stop being weak and to shake off his apathy after he had finished training her and began to drift away from the rest of the dragon world. She had heard that he had regained his strength of will after meeting Spyro, but that wasn't the Ignitus she had said goodbye to. She couldn't be angry though, she couldn't do that to him.

"Master…" She whispered softly. "I… I did not expect to see you…"

Ignitus bowed his head. "Flare, I am no longer your master, you are a true guardian dragon. I only wish I had been able to be with you on your journey; although you certainly have not needed my help!" He chuckled softly.

Flare opened her mouth for a moment, and then closed it again, not knowing what to say.

Ignitus turned to Volteer with a smile. "I am no longer a guardian, I am only an old dragon. I have little doubt that you and I could spend every minute of the next decade talking at your prodigious pace and still not be done exploring each other's knowledge, but now is not the time to begin such a talk. Allow me just to say this; Volteer I am very proud of you, and I wish you both all the happiness I can give."

Volteer nodded, both grateful and sad, for Ignitus' words had again reminded him that Imperia was not present to also be wished happiness. He wiped away a tear and tried to smile.

Ignitus saw something was wrong. Without the aid of his library on the White Isle he knew not the events that had transpired in the rest of the world. For several days now he had been flying into the unknown with only fate to guide him, and now he feared the worst.

"Flare, Volteer, I see that you are deeply saddened by something. I have come to offer what help I can, and I pray to the Ancestors that I have not come too late."

"You have…" Flare murmured. "But thankyou for coming."

Ignitus looked taken aback. "I… I am sorry… I should have come earlier." He did not admit that he had truly believed he had been destined to arrive at a certain time. But now it seemed he had been too late after all. Had he somehow failed in his destiny? Had he never been meant to come here at all? These possibilities concerned him, but not nearly so much as he was concerned for the sake of the others.

Flare shook her head. "You're not to blame."

"And don't blame yourself either." Volteer said firmly to the fire dragoness.

Flare looked at him sadly, but she nodded.

"The last thing I knew before I departed was that many dragons would converge at this place, and that the omens of the future were very dark. I fear for Spyro's life, and for the fate of Cynder. I saw an image of her imprisoned, has Malefor captured her?"

"Only briefly." Volteer said. "I'll explain everything we know, but we'd better return to the others too."

The electric guardian filled Ignitus in on what he knew; starting with Malefor's ambiguous behaviour, telling Ignitus that none of them were sure if he could or should be trusted. He explained how Malefor had captured Spyro, and told him the scant details that he'd gathered from Cynder about what had transpired on the tower of the fortress. He left out information about Imperia for now, even just telling someone else that she'd died was something that Volteer didn't quite feel ready to do.

* * *

Cynder yawned, she hadn't slept yet and she might not be able to sleep even if she tried. She had been up for a long while now, and this was only one of several times in the last several days that she'd been getting by with only a small amount of rest. She was weary physically and mentally, but she wasn't tired.

After everything that had happened it was a great relief to simply be able to talk with Imperia. It was the first genuinely relaxing thing she had done since she and Spyro had rested together after their fight with Gracious below Shattershelf.

The silver dragoness noticed Cynder's yawn and tilted her head. "Maybe we should wait to talk till tomorrow."

"Maybe… but there is no way I'm letting Dark Spyro wander around for any longer than necessary, so if we don't talk now who knows when we'll get another chance? I'm not going to faint from tiredness." Cynder replied. "At least, not again." She added.

"You fainted from tiredness?" Imperia asked curiously. "You mean at Shattershelf when you used all your power to hit the orc army with a huge fear attack?"

"No, I was talking about the time before that, when this dragon called Gracious used ice attacks to chill the air until I was too weak to fight."

"He's quite a clever dragon, that one." Imperia said thoughtfully. "But I'm still impressed he was able to come up with a tactic like that while battling you. What did you think of him?"

"You know him?" Cynder asked sceptically, and then she frowned. "Oh, right. He works for Malefor and so do you. Of course you know him."

"I do know him. I met him and his brother a few times, although I wouldn't call them friends."

"He seemed friendly enough, actually." Cynder said. "I don't _like_ him very much, mostly because he did try to kill us; but at least he wasn't nasty about it."

Imperia giggled. "So that's how to gain your respect? Try to kill you without being nasty about it? I'll keep that in mind." She teased playfully.

"You already have my respect, though, so being a lying spy apparently works too." Cynder countered.

"Harsh but fair." Imperia said with a sigh.

"At least I'm not being nasty about it." Cynder said with a smile. Cynder paused as Imperia laughed, then continued her line of thought. "So… how long has it been? Since you met Gracious and Seth, and since you met Malefor?"

Imperia lay down and tucked her legs underneath herself; Cynder sat down as well, curling her tail. The silver dragoness thought for a moment before replying. "I got in touch with Malefor through my attempts to gain a position as the first wind guardian. In the legend of his origin it's mentioned that he learned to master the wind element. Considering that purple dragons are supposed to be able to master all the guardian elements; I thought it was worth finding some solid proof."

"That sounds like a reasonable thing to do, but it's just typical of you that this is how it would end up. So how long ago was it when this happened?"

"Oh about sixty or seventy years… I think. It might be longer, oh how time flies when you're having fun. Anyway at about that time I started to get more seriously into politics, with Malefor giving me what advice he could. Although to be honest such things are not exactly his area of expertise."

"How did he give you advice? He was imprisoned in Convexity at the time right?"

"Yes he was, but we could talk to each other in my dreams. There are variations of the ritual your dark form once used to summon the Dark Master, we used one of those. When I slept I could sense his presence faintly, and when I focused on it I could hear and speak to him."

"That makes sense. So… Malefor helped you become wind guardian, and in return you helped him come back?"

"We help each other, yes, but it's not like a trade. We just both want the same thing."

"To rule the world?" Cynder asked sceptically.

"You make that sound so sinister. We just want to make the world a little bit better."

"And you think Malefor will be satisfied with that?"

"I trust him." Imperia said confidently.

"You've been wrong before." Cynder replied, not entirely sure what to think about all of this. She was suspicious of Malefor still, but he truly did appear to have good intentions. "So you put the snake charms on me and Spyro. Did you do anything else? Suggesting using a Golem for the trap seems like the type of thing you'd find amusing."

"Golem? Trap?" Imperia blinked innocently.

"You know what I'm talking about." Cynder said, smiling slightly. "Don't worry I've forgiven you for that stuff too. But did you suggest it?"

"Cynder I actually don't know what trap you mean. When did this happen? I had nothing to do with it."

Cynder looked at her sceptically. "At the Catacombs? Dagger… well he said his name was Dagger, it was actually Thoran. Anyway he gave us a message from Malefor, saying to go to the Catacombs. So we went there, and then Gracious and Seth tried to kill us."

"Malefor told me he was going to test your skills." Imperia said with a disapproving frown. "I knew he could have planned a dangerous test, but I really had no idea he'd send you to the ice dragon brothers out in the middle of nowhere. Gracious is very powerful, and Seth was; let's just say he was rather odd. I'll let Malefor know that I think letting them have a chance to fight you and Spyro was a bad idea, although I'm sure he'll say he had it under control. And maybe he did, after all the two of you made it out okay and Seth apparently didn't."

"Did you know them well?" Cynder asked curiously.

"Well enough to be sad that Seth died." Imperia said.

"No offence, but I'm not all that sad about it. He threatened to tear out my eyes. We were going to spare his life, but then the Golem just showed up and threw him into the lava." Cynder glanced down at her paws, hoping that Imperia wouldn't mind her apathy.

The silver dragoness giggled faintly and nodded. "He was always a bit obsessive and pretentious, and the way that he would look at me was… interesting. So I can understand him leaving a bad impression on you. I guess he died for what he believed in, and that's not a courtesy afforded to everyone. Gracious is nicer, and I hope that he'll be okay. Although I expect he'll be angry and upset and whatnot. Everything he thought he had and everything he's been trying to achieve; has collapsed around him. Well, aside from Magmar being dead."

"I can't imagine how that must feel." Cynder said sarcastically. "It's not like I've ever been in a situation like that. And I'm sure not in one right now."

"Oh Cynder, there's always hope. And unlike poor Gracious we're ready to work together; we do have a good chance of saving Spyro and making everything okay again."

"I guess so..." Cynder said.

"I'm sure so." Imperia responded happily. "Now what were we talking about?"

"I was questioning through your history with Malefor. I want to know what you've been involved in and what you didn't know about."

"I knew about most of Malefor's plan. Aside from a few little additions that he made once he returned. Freeing Thoran and sending him to me was part of the plan. I didn't really want to have to fight him, but we figured it was better that he come after me rather than Malefor needing to track him down and kill him once he inevitably started to cause trouble."

"What happened in Warfang? We didn't realise Thoran was so dangerous until we'd reached Darkmire's Tomb and by then it was too late to follow him."

"He entered the city stealthily, killing one dragon and one mole before he found out where I was living. After that he came directly to me. Fortunately Volteer arrived to help, and before long Cyril arrived with guard dragons. Thoran fled, but I chased him down and killed him."

"You killed him?" Cynder looked impressed but also slightly concerned. "I wouldn't have thought you had it in you to kill another dragon."

"Well he was a really bad dragon. It felt more like justice than murder."

"That's a bit of a dangerous line to blur." Cynder responded. "After all the same thing would have been said by many of the dragons who wanted to kill me for what I did as the Terror of The Skies. Fortunately none of them were brave enough to actually make an assassination attempt."

"That is very fortunate." Imperia agreed. "Although maybe they just weren't as hateful as they seemed to be."

Cynder made a derisive sound, clearly indicating to Imperia how little the black dragoness agreed with _that_ idea. Imperia decided to change the subject.

"Is there anything else you want to know about my involvement in this whole thing?"

"What is your relationship with Malefor? Do you flirt with him like you flirt with basically everyone else? Or is there something more to it? The things you've done to get his attention have been, well… practically insane."

"I hadn't actually thought about it that way." Imperia admitted. "Oh dear… Have I been trying too hard? I didn't mean to."

"So there is something more." Cynder tried not to think about it too much. Romantic was the first word to come to her mind; but creepy was not far behind. "I'm not entirely sure if I should be asking about this..."

"Oh nonsense, dear, there isn't anything to hide, and not much to tell either. I respect and care for him, and I think he'd be a fine romantic partner. Besides our personalities match up very well."

"I can't imagine a way for that to not be awkward, and I don't want to imagine too hard in case I imagine something that I can't unsee."

Imperia blushed but grinned. "It's not that awkward, really. Malefor is very smart and rather charming, although I do think he needs to get more comfortable with socialising. I'd like to think I can help him unwind a bit more."

"Please stop talking." Cynder looked at the floor. "I really don't want to know any more. We are not having this discussion right now."

"Maybe later?" Imperia asked playfully but hopefully. "It'd be such a fun talk!"

"No promises." Cynder said, although she had little doubt Imperia would manage to get her into that discussion eventually. Imperia was extremely persistent. "Although..." She paused for a moment, slightly reluctant to mention something spoil the good mood of the silver dragoness.

Imperia tilted her head curiously. "Yes?"

"I was just wondering how you'd manage having a relationship with Malefor, when you're already so close to Flare and Volteer."

Cynder expected Imperia to falter slightly, doubting that the other dragoness had thought through her current situation completely. However Imperia waved a paw cheerfully. "The three of them will get along really well! Volteer and Malefor have already met. As for how we'd actually manage the relationship..." Imperia shrugged. "No idea, but I'm sure we'd figure it out easily enough. If it happened, that is."

"I'm glad you're so optimistic." Cynder said.

"It's one of my best abilities." Imperia responded with a grin. "Although I guess it can lead me astray on rare occasions. I don't think it's done me any favours with Flare, for instance."

"I expect she'll be a little bit upset; she thinks that you're dead."

"Oh dear… You mean nobody was around to explain it to her?"

"No. Malefor didn't even explain to me until right before he tried to bring you back. I doubt Flare and Volteer have any idea there's even a chance you're alive."

"Oh dear." Imperia said again. "They must feel awful… I'm so sorry. What if I've ruined everything? I barely even thought about how they'd react to the news"

Cynder wrapped her tail comfortingly around Imperia's. The older dragoness was looking genuinely worried. "They'll be happy that you're back, although something tells me that Flare will give you a telling off that will put Malefor's to shame."

"I hope so. I deserve everything, but I really don't want her to give up on me."

"What happened to your optimism? I'm sure Flare won't leave you."

Imperia nodded, slightly nervous but grateful for Cynder's reassurance. "Thanks Cynder. I hope you're right."

* * *

By the time Volteer had told him Spyro had been taken over by his dark side, Ignitus' face was very grim indeed. The three of them flew into the fortress, touching down in the same antechamber that they had arrived at. Immediately Cyril stalked towards them, clearly the ice dragon was intending to rant at them or at the very least to let them know he didn't approve of what they'd done. However he was stopped dead in his tracks the moment he recognised Ignitus.

"Ignitus? I… how? I don't understand. Spyro and Cynder told us that they saw you die. Did they lie? Where have you been?"

Ignitus shook his head. "No Cyril, they did see me die. The Ancestors chose me to become their next Chronicler. I saw the world at peace, and though it grieved me deeply I knew that I could not return to you. My story is over, old friend. Or, it was meant to be over."

"But… all the legends said that the chronicler could never leave his or her library. Were the legends wrong?"

"No, the legends were right. I've just broken the rules."

Ignitus chuckled slightly.

"I never did like to follow the rules too closely, and some things are more important than the traditions the Ancestors have built for the Chronicler dragon. Speaking of rule breaking, where is Imperia? I learned of her treachery years ago, when I first examined her life in the library of the White Isle, but I could not inform you. I saw her confess to you at Shattershelf, and I recall that you intended to imprison her. She may be of some use to us now."

Cyril glanced and Volteer and Flare, quickly gathering that they had not quite told Ignitus everything. "She died, Ignitus. According to Cynder she was killed by Dark Spyro, and I myself saw her body."

"Oh." Ignitus said quietly. He too glanced at Volteer and Flare. "I see now. I am sad that happened."

"She wouldn't want us to grieve too much." Volteer said with a surprisingly even voice. "She'd be telling us to hurry up and save Spyro, befriend Malefor, and promote world peace."

"I came here because I felt that things were serious enough that my help would not go amiss, so I think that we ought to get started." Ignitus agreed.

"And do what?" Cyril asked. "Saving Spyro, befriending Malefor, and world peace are hardly viable plans of action. I for one am not going to condone rash and dangerous behaviour."

Ignitus looked at Cyril. "You haven't changed very much. You're a fine leader Cyril, but there are times when it's worthwhile to take a risk."

"That's why there are guardians for each element." Volteer observed. "No one dragon gains final authority."

Cyril opened his mouth to retort, but then paused for a moment and swept a chilly gaze over the others. "We'll continue to discuss this later. But believe me I have serious concerns about this fiasco and its potential impact on the prestigious traditions of Warfang politics."

Flare nodded. "So do I, but we have to do something."

"Cynder has gone to see Malefor. Let's make sure she's okay." Cyril said, reluctantly accepting that everyone else wanted to act and that it was his duty to support them, he began to lead the others to the room that he and Dash had found earlier. "We found Malefor down here, and sent Cynder to him perhaps half an hour ago."

"Sent Cynder to him?" Ignitus asked curiously. "She asked to go, I presume; although I'm surprised that you allowed her to."

"I didn't have any way to stop her." Cyril said, trying but failing to keep his irritated tone. He found himself unable to muster up his usual bad temper while in the presence of his old friend. There was no magic to the effect Ignitus was having on him, just old memories.

"And you wouldn't have stopped her, even if you we certain you were able to. You respect her a lot."

"You never were able to hold your tongue, were you?" Cyril smiled wryly at Ignitus. "As a young dragon you were rash, but you've grown shrewd in your old age. Your observations are as acute as they are unwelcome."

Ignitus chuckled. "I'm glad you haven't changed, Cyril."

Cyril wasn't sure quite how to reply to that, so he simply nodded. "Thankyou. As long as there are dragons who need someone intelligent to stop from making foolish decisions I don't expect I will change very much." He increased his pace to walk slightly ahead of the group of dragons; leading them to the room where he had found Malefor.

"Arrogant as ever." Ignitus muttered after he was sure Cyril wasn't listening.

After only a couple of minutes they arrived at a large door and Cyril stopped. He looked back at the others. There were at least fifteen dragons gazing at him or at the door. He frowned.

"I don't think we should all go in together. This group is far too large." He quickly counted the group, making sure that none of the dragons had gone missing while they had walked. "Everyone is accounted for, that's good. Volteer, Flare, Ignitus, this is where I directed Cynder to come to. Anyone who doesn't need to meet Malefor should head back to the antechamber to wait for Terrador and the other dragons searching the fortress."

"I'm going in as well!" Ember squeaked, doing her best to keep a brave look on her face. She stepped forwards and spoke again in a steadier voice. "If Cynder's in there then I'm going. And besides I already met Malefor so I'm ready to do this."

Flare spoke up before Cyril or anyone else could object. "Thankyou Ember. Is there anyone else?"

There was a moment of silence; then Ivorii, the long horned earth dragoness who had volunteered to bring word of Imperia's death back to Warfang, stepped forwards. "I want to come too."

Flare nodded to her. "Very well." She glanced back at Cyril.

The ice guardian stepped forwards and raised a paw to open the door, but then he hesitated. What if Imperia was alive? He hadn't told any of the others that there was a chance she would be. Worse, what if she was still dead? He may have got along with her poorly in the past, but it would still hurt to have his hopes raised and then crushed.

Ignitus saw Cyril's hesitation and, to Cyril's gratitude, didn't comment on it. The Chronicler simply stepped up beside him and then pushed the door open.

* * *

Cynder had moved to lie down beside Imperia, a wing tucked over the weakened silver dragoness.

"Imperia…"

"Yes dear?"

"Did you know that Thoran was going to be set free?"

Imperia tilted her head, curious as to where this question was leading. "Yes I did. Why?"

"And did you know that he was going to kill other dragons and moles?"

"I was fairly sure that he would, yes. Are you asking me if I think that what I did was worth the lives lost?"

Cynder nodded.

Imperia sighed sadly. "That's a hard question to answer, and it's one that I'm probably going to wonder about for the rest of my life. But I think that what we've done, what we've achieved though this, has been worth it. Dragons died in the siege of Shattershelf too, but in the end we were able to create a strong alliance. Either way I've decided to keep calm and carry on for as long as I have to, and then make amends after we're all safe."

She looked at Cynder.

"The way I judge myself is important, but so are the opinions of the ones I love, so what do you think? Do you think that risking or sacrificing the lives of others is worth it?"

Cynder shrugged. "I don't know. I'd kill to keep those precious to me safe, but sacrificing the lives of some to protect many? I'm not exactly comfortable with that idea. Honestly I'd prefer to find a way where nobody needs to die at all, but I guess sometimes we don't live in a world where that is possible. You did the best that you could."

"I wish I could do better." Imperia said.

"Pretty much everyone does." Cynder pointed out.

The silver dragoness nodded, and then she looked towards the door. Cynder felt Imperia's body grow tense. She reached out with her wind magic and felt what Imperia had sensed: that there were dragons outside in the corridor.

"Time for your dramatic return from being pronounced dead."

Imperia relaxed slightly. "It's not like this is the most shocking thing I've ever done. Do you think you could help me to my feet?"

Cynder frowned. "I think you should stay lying down. You look like you'd fall over."

"As you wish, doctor Cynder." Imperia said with a slight giggle.

As Imperia giggled the door opened, a pair of blue dragons lead the way into the room.

Cynder recognised Cyril, but dismissed the other dragon from her mind as she noticed Volteer and Flare. Ember and a vaguely familiar earth dragoness brought up the rear of the group. Ember spotted Cynder instantly and gave a hesitant smile.

"You're alive." Imperia said to the second blue dragon. Cynder thought this was obvious, but it wasn't the worst thing Imperia could have said to start the conversation.

"Thankyou. Allow me to return the compliment. You're alive too. Surprisingly." The blue dragon replied.

That voice caught Cynder's attention rapidly. That voice belonged to…

"Ignitus, really, I have more excuse to be alive than you do." Imperia said. "You look good in blue, though."

Ignitus chuckled ever so slightly, but then he stepped aside so that Volteer and Flare could speak to Imperia directly.

"Umm… hi?" Imperia said. Her eyes darted back and forth between the two dragons facing her.

Volteer rushed forwards. "Imperia! I'm so glad you're alright! You are alright aren't you?" He grabbed her horns and turned her head his way and that; examining her eyes, teeth and tongue before checking the rest of her for injuries.

"Blarg… I'm fine." Imperia mumbled from under his paws. Cynder slithered aside so that Volteer could hug the silver dragoness, which he immediately did.

Imperia was wrapped tightly in Volteer's wings, she snuggled up to him. Volteer looked up at Flare and beckoned her to join them, which the fire dragoness did after a moment's hesitation. She wrapped her long streamer-like tail around them both. "It's been quite a hectic day." She said to herself.

"Volteer, Flare, I'm really sorry…" Imperia's emotional voice said. She was buried under Volteer's wings so it was impossible to see her expression, but it wouldn't have surprised anyone if she was crying. "I'm so sorry for putting you through this..."

"I'm just glad you're okay." Volteer said softly. "It's more than I hoped for."

Imperia sniffled and giggled, her tail squirmed until it found Flare's and then curled gently around it. "Thankyou..."

Flare smiled faintly, putting aside all emotions other than relief for now. She unfolded one of her wings and put it around Volteer's shoulders.

Imperia peeked her head out from Volteer's hold to look at Flare, she wiped her eyes with a paw and then nuzzled the fire dragoness. "I love you both."

"You're a stressful dragon to love sometimes, but I love you too." Flare said.

Volteer nodded. "My sentiment precisely."

Ember made her way over to Cynder, circling around the room until she was standing beside the black dragoness. "Is it weird that I feel like crying from seeing this?"

Cynder looked up and saw glittering water in Ember's eyes. "I don't think so. You're allowed to be emotional."

Ember wiped her eyes, smiling. "I don't know why I'm crying. I'm happy for them. I just feel bad for what happened as well."

"Me too." Cynder agreed.

Ignitus looked across at Cyril, seeing the ice dragon's smile. Cyril noticed Ignitus' gaze and sighed. "Yes I'm glad that she's alive and glad that this whole incident hasn't been a disaster. It means we have a few less problems to deal with."

"But it's too early to celebrate." Ignitus agreed.

"Not while Dark Spyro is out there in the world."

* * *

 **Many parts of this chapter seemed slightly off as I was writing them, but after proof reading it all feels a lot better. Hopefully you think the same, and hopefully you can't understand why I might have had any trouble at all with this chapter.**

 **If you can see any issues, however, then please do point them out in reviews. I may edit this particular chapter if it seems to need it.**

 **I appreciate purely complimentary reviews too, so if you thought this chapter was perfect then I'd be grateful if you'd tell me I shouldn't worry so much. XD**

 **Until next time!**

 **-4Dragons**


	44. Seeking Darkness

**I uploaded this chapter to the site and found it had been turned into a terrifying wall of gibberish. I've been messing around with it to try to fix it, but I may have missed some things. If some words are in bold, but look like they shouldn't be, then let me know. If any code language is still here, or anything else that is weird, I'd be grateful if you told me. :D**

 **Story now:**

* * *

"This reunion is touching, but we have more pressing matters to attend to."

Cynder glanced at Flare, then at Cyril; wondering if the ice dragon had somehow changed his voice. But no, he looked surprised as well. Flare was the one who had spoken.

Volteer looked at Flare with concern. "You don't seem exactly pleased..."

"I'm feeling a lot of things at the moment." Flare said stiffly.

Cyril raised an eyebrow at her, seeming doubtful.

Flare frowned at him. "What? We don't have time to waste on this. I'll sort out my numerous issues with Imperia and her behaviour later on."

"I agree, however I'm slightly surprised to hear you say it." Cyril said. "You have more self control than I thought you did."

Flare didn't deign to respond to that directly, she instead looked at Volteer. "Don't worry about me."

"I'm worried." Imperia put in, gazing at Flare with concern.

"You should be." Flare told the silver dragoness.

Imperia responded with a hesitant giggle and looked away, but there seemed to be some sort of understanding between her and Flare. Imperia knew she was in trouble, but she was on speaking terms with Flare still; at least until Flare thought that the world was safe enough for the two of them to sort things out.

"Now, we all need to talk about Spyro." The fire dragoness said, turning to look at Cynder.

"Are you sure?" Ignitus asked the fire dragoness. "We can give you and Imperia some time alone I'm sure, if you want it."

Flare shook her head mutely.

"Very well..." Ignitus said eventually. "I suppose that with that out of the way we should find and talk to Malefor."

From the top of the room a dragon cleared their throat, Cynder glanced up at the spiral stairs Malefor had left by, the purple dragon was barely visible standing on the top steps. "I've been listening since I heard the door open." He made his way slowly down the stairs until he reached the floor. "I wasn't originally planning to eavesdrop, but once I knew Cynder and Imperia were no longer alone I felt that my presence might be needed at any moment."

Nobody replied. Cyril attempted to catch Malefor's gaze, planning to stare him down, but Malefor's eyes roamed over the group, not giving him a chance. Flare watched the purple dragon calculatingly, while most of the others were looking fearful or unsure. Imperia had hidden her head under Volteer's wings, while Volteer and Cynder looked mildly friendly, or at least not hostile.

"You all have good reason to be nervous, and little reason to trust me. But I mean no harm to any of you, and even without proof of that I assume that you're all aware Spyro is a much greater danger than I am." The purple dragon chuckled softly.

"If you wanted to destroy the world you'd have done it already, but Spyro will be figuring out how to do it right now, probably." Cynder said, although the words felt completely abnormal coming from her mouth. The idea of Spyro destroying the world was just… wrong. "It seems like he's still as smart as usual, even though he's turned dark."

"That's not entirely true." Malefor responded. "Destroying the world is a very difficult and time consuming feat. I would need months of preperation, perhaps longer, and Spyro having to learn it all by instinct could take him years. He would need to master the art of creating living beasts from stone, fire and magic. I imagine he might try his skills at creating orcs, but I doubt he would succeed without practice."

Cynder nodded in understanding.

"If Spyro were to send a golem against us, then I would be slightly worried about him being able to create a Destroyer, but creating a golem even if you know how to do it can take a week or more. I was fortunate in my time, to discover ancient forgotten constructs far below the surface of the earth. A small army of pre-made soldiers. The Dark Master copied their design when he was building the golem that attacked Warfang, he did not invent it himself."

"Sometimes you speak as if it was you, and sometimes you speak as if it was another dragon." Volteer said thoughtfully. "Are you trying to indemnify your identity?"

Malefor was taken aback. "Am I trying to… what?" He knew, roughly, what Volteer had asked him, but the electric dragon continued before Malefor had a chance to collect his thoughts and respond.

"Indem- ah… erm… Avoid responsibility for what you once did? I for one won't hold you responsible for any atrocities, crimes or acts of villainy that your dark self committed, performed, caused or intended."

"I see..." Malefor glanced at the others, checking to make sure that he wasn't the only one thrown by Volteer's strange personality. "Well I'm not attempting to do that. The change between myself and my dark form was not immediate or complete. Spyro's won't be either. He will fade between his two personalities, and for the most part he'll be aware of what his dark side has done."

"You mean he could come back?" Cynder asked.

"Yes, and I expect that he will several times over the coming months. If we haven't been able to help him by then. It was during the times when I regained control from the Dark Master that I made and enacted my plan to seal myself away from the world. Spyro will almost certainly try to do the same thing. Hopefully he comes back here and hands himself over to us; but Dark Spyro may not allow him to do that."

"Yes I can imagine that going poorly." Volteer agreed. "We don't seem adequately prepared for the eventuality of Dark Spyro turning up here uninvited, even if he only does it because Spyro tried to surrender."

"So what will he do?" Cynder asked. "You know Dark Spyro, and we know Spyro, so surely between us we can figure out where he'll be."

"I expect he'll have sought out somewhere isolated, and probably somewhere he feels safe. I believe he was raised in a swamp? I expect he'll have returned there."

"Or perhaps the dragon temple..." Volteer mused.

"There is nothing but a crater left in it's place, and I doubt he'll go there; but it's worth searching." Malefor agreed.

"Searching? We want to search for him?" Cyril asked sceptically.

"He'll find us easily enough once he's ready to take us on, so we might as well try to find him first." Malefor responded. "We'll need search parties looking for wild orcs, and any other signs of Dark Spyro attempting to develop his powers."

"For posterity's sake I'd like to just let you know that there is a network, a labyrinth, a whole maze of tunnels below the dragon temple. Parts of it will still be there, maybe even most of it." Volteer said.

"Well that makes it all the more important that we search it."

"These search parties you speak of would be Warfang dragons? I can't be the only one who objects to the idea of Malefor placing so much as a single one of our dragons in harms way." Cyril said curtly.

"Agreed." Flare said. "However as soon as we tell them what we're looking for we will have more volunteers than we can handle."

"What?" Cynder looked puzzled. "Why?"

Flare looked at the black dragoness, managing a faint smile. "Regrettably you've never known much kindness from the general populace of Warfang, but there are many dragons there who would willingly risk their lives to help Spyro. Even after years everyone is still grateful for what he's done, and his reputation for being kind and helpful has only grown stronger over time." Flare told her.

"I see… That's nice, although it certainly doesn't make me feel all that much better about how 'popular' I am." Cynder said, letting only the tiniest hint of bitterness into her voice. She doubted she'd have much enjoyed being hailed as a hero, but at least it would have been nice to get the chance to try it. Besides, no matter how much she disliked it surely it would have been better than being hated.

Ember, who hadn't thought she had anything to add to this conversation, saw her chance to make a small contribution. "It's ok Cynder. You've convinced me, and the rest of Warfang should be pretty easy compared to that." She wrapped a comforting wing over the black dragoness' narrow shoulders.

Cynder responded with a grateful smile, and Ember felt a small glow of happiness in her chest. Perhaps her contribution wasn't as small to Cynder as she'd thought.

"So we have almost certainly got volunteers to look for Dark Spyro." Flare gazed at Malefor. "Would they be in danger if they found him?"

"I can't be sure." Malefor said reluctantly. "He has the ability to detect, hunt and kill almost anyone who finds him. But I doubt he will be on his guard, and even if he does realise someone has found him it's possible he will ignore them or let them go."

Cyril huffed. "Oh yes it's _possible_ , but is it likely? Dark Spyro is a savage, a monster."

"Perhaps… but he is still Spyro." Malefor said. "I expect that he'll be more familiar than you think."

Cyril continued to look annoyed, but he sighed and looked away. "If dragons, who are aware of the risk, do in fact volunteer; then I'll organise the search parties. Somebody trustworthy needs to be taking care of their safety."

Malefor ignored Cyril's thinly veiled insult. There was more that he needed to explain, perhaps the most important thing of all.

"Dark Spyro will be looking for something to do with his power. The Dark Master took the things that were important to me and tried to accomplish them in his own way, he was obsessed with his… with… his studies of convexity."

"You're not telling us something." Volteer said immediately. Malefor's hesitation was obvious,

"You're right. It's not something important for you to know or else I would tell you. In fact it is something I strongly advise you to not ask about."

"A sensitive subject?" Volteer queried.

"Yes." Malefor responded coldly. "All that matters is that Dark Spyro will want to find something to do. We should try to get to him before he chooses to do something… aggressive."

* * *

Hope stretched his wings, hissing softly, his demeanour was confident and intimidating.

Suna watched, uncomfortable. He knew something was very wrong, both from Spyro's words and from his appearance. He glanced at Ceara, the blue fire dragoness who had brought Spyro here, right into the centre of Shattershelf, she looked terrified.

"We need to have a chat about Cynder?" Suna repeated what Hope had told him. "That's good. I hope she's ok, she was pretty worried for you when I last saw her."

" _She was ok, for a while. But then she was scared of me. I can't let her be scared of me, can I? You understand._ "

"Well… I can sort of understand why she might have been scared of you. You're honestly looking a little bit creepy right now, Spyro. Do you need a doctor or anything?"

" _Appearance. Yes._ " Hope said thoughtfully. " _I wonder if Cynder would think you look better than I do. I wonder if she would care… You are a handsome male_."

"Uhh, yes..." The fire dragon nodded.

" _Are you popular with females? You act like you are._ " Hope glanced briefly at Ceara, and thought he noticed the faintest of blushes, although it could have just been because she was afraid.

"Spyro I don't like where this conversation is going. You weren't this jealous before. Cynder isn't the only girl who I've flirted with recently if that's what you want to know. Still if it means so much to you personally then I'll leave her alone."

Hope laughed. " _I'm not jealous! You think I'd be scared of losing Cynder to you? You are nothing. I'm only here because you can be of use to me._ "

"Of use?" Suna asked warily.

Ceara took this opportunity to scamper away, darting out of the training ground as quickly as she could go. Suna didn't blame her for running, although he really desperately hoped that she had the good sense to call the city guards. Hope noticed her leave, but he didn't care, he barely even thought of her.

" _You can be useful. Although I don't need you to be alive._ " Hope grinned. He began to advance, then circled left, inviting Suna to match his movements.

Suna circled to his left, keeping himself at an equal distance from Hope. He hesitated momentarily once his back was to the exit, trying to decide if he should make a break for it.

" _Try it._ " Hope chuckled.

Suna took a step backward, crouching slightly as he did so. Hope took a step forwards, only to yelp and cover his face with a wing as Suna spat a fireball at him. The flames stuck harmlessly to Hope's scales, only annoying him. He growled at the other dragon, lowering his wing as he stepped forwards again, only for another fireball to hit him directly on his head. The impact was painful this time, but still no threat, however it was enough for Suna to turn tail and dash towards the door.

Hope hissed in anger, the wind coiled around him and launched him forwards. He accelerated after the other dragon, slamming into him clumsily but forcefully.

Both dragons went sprawling, but Hope rolled to his feet in between Suna and the door.

" _You'd have to go through me, little dragon._ "

"Spyro please, I don't want to fight you. We said we were friends."

" _I'm not Spyro, and the dragons who he claimed to befriend mean nothing to me. I'm what Spyro was always meant to be, finally free of his confusion, his fear, and his undeveloped morality. My name is Hope._ "

Suna frowned. "Hope?"

" _Yes?_ "

"Sorry, I'm just questioning your name choice. It's not exactly a scary name." Suna did a nervous yet surprisingly accurate imitation of Hope's voice. "Abandon all hope, fool who dares to challenge the mighty… Hope?" He trailed off, shrugging helplessly.

" _I see._ " Hope laughed. " _I'll ask Cynder what she thinks of that. However I never actually wanted an intimidating name. I am hope in more than just my name. Someday everyone will understand._ "

"Now _that_ was scary." Suna admitted.

Hope laughed and began to stalk towards the fire dragon. When Spyro had sparred against Suna he had used his speed to his advantage, because the other dragon was better in close combat. But Hope had no disadvantage, he could do whatever he wanted.

Suna backed away slightly, but realised that he didn't really have any choice besides fighting. As Hope closed in he suddenly darted forwards. Hope was ready for him, but Suna slid to one side at the last moment and slashed the purple dragon on the foreleg with his tail.

Hope yelped in surprise, but lashed out with a counterstrike that sent Suna sprawling on the ground. He glanced at his scales, almost disappointed that Suna had done no damage. He would have liked to see it heal.

Suna felt even more fearful now that he'd experienced just how physically strong Spyro had become. His side was bruised, although nothing had been broken. He rubbed his ribs, trying to stop himself from going numb as he got to his feet. "Ouch..."

" _It's impressive, isn't it? I wonder how strong I am, exactly._ " Hope darted forwards, Suna slashed him on the jaw hard enough to draw blood, but Hope simply slammed Suna's head into the ground and stunned him.

Suna groaned and struggled, but he could do nothing; Hope stood on his throat. The dark purple dragon examined the blood on his cheek, licking it off even as the wounds began to heal. It was healing faster than his wounds had after his fight with Malefor, but it was still frustratingly slow.

A clamour from the door drew Hope's attention. Dozens of fire dragons had come running into the room and were shouting for him to back away from Suna. He ignored them, until Asha walked through the group and approached him.

She was barely worth talking to, but at least she was more interesting than the guard dragons. Hope gave her a smile. " _I hear that you've been promoted. I'm disappointed that Magmar is dead, I would have liked to test my abilities on him before confronting Flare._ "

"What's the meaning of this?" Asha asked sternly. She seemed utterly unintimidated by Hope; which impressed the purple dragon a little bit. "Spyro, you're speaking nonsense and threatening dragons who you've only ever been kind to in the past. I can understand your dislike for my dead brother, but this is taking things too far."

Hope laughed. Asha was so serious and commanding. She was as powerless as she was ignorant, but she had courage. " _I hate your dead brother for daring to harm Cynder. But this has nothing to do with that, and my name isn't Spyro_."

"Dark Spyro." Asha hissed. Most of the guards seemed to understand the significance of what she'd said, and some of them had already worked it out for themselves. A ripple of fear passed through the squad.

" _Call me Hope. And if you don't like my name then I'll tear your head off._ " Hope turned back to Suna. " _Sorry about the interruption. What were we doing again?_ " He laughed. " _Nevermind, I don't care. I am curious to know if I actually could pull a dragon's head off. So unless you have any objections I'll use you as a test subject, okay?_ "

Suna's eyes went wide with terror, despite Hope standing on his throat he managed to choke out a word."Cynder..."

Asha began to stride forwards, there was no way she would allow Hope to try his threat without a fight.

Hope, however, couldn't ignore what Suna had said, he lifted his foot so the fire drake could speak. " _What about her?_ "

"Won't she be angry if you kill me?" Suna asked desperately. Hope seemed very concerned about her, so if he had Cynder's protection then maybe he would be able to keep his head attached for a little while longer.

Hope faltered. "Well… no?" He didn't sound certain. His voice suddenly returning to a much more natural tone. "I'm doing this to show her I care. She wouldn't be angry would she?" He gazed down at Suna with a frown. "She did seem to like you. Like a pet, or a plaything, maybe? I shouldn't take that away from her."

Asha stopped, seeing that Hope had become less aggressive. Suna nodded to him, but didn't dare to speak.

Hope sighed in annoyance. "I can't kill you. But that's the whole reason I came here. What do I do now?" He glanced over at Asha, but kept his voice low enough that only Suna could clearly hear him. He ran a claw over Suna's scales, testing their hardness. "It's a bit embarrassing, isn't it?"

"Spyro?" Asha asked warily. "Are you able to hear me?"

"That's a good question." Hope responded to her. "But I'm still in control if that's what you were wondering." His mood brightened considerably as an idea struck him. "I know how to make sure I didn't waste my trip! I'm sure that Cynder will be fine with it. If it really bothers her then she can just look at you from only your right side."

"My right si-?" Suna began, but then Hope grabbed his left wing in a crushingly tight grip. "Wait! No! Spyro no!"

"Well I have to do _something._ " Hope said in a reasonable sounding voice.

He yanked on Suna's wing, and the fire dragon screamed in pain. Asha spat a fireball and began to charge at him, but Hope used a fury of lightning to force her to remain at a distance. The fireball burned his shoulder but he didn't even notice. He gave Suna's wing a twist, feeling muscles snap and bones creak.

It wasn't easy, a dragon's wings were firmly attached, and their bones were very strong. Hope twisted it again, he was using far more of his strength then he had assumed he would need. Eventually something gave out, and Hope felt Suna's wingjoint break. Suna was screaming constantly now, struggling as hard as he could but with no success.

Suna's scaly hide, as well as some tendons, were all that kept his wing attached now, the young fire dragon was crying uncontrollably. Hope grunted with effort as he yanked again, even harder, and finally the wing came tearing free.

He dropped it, panting slightly, and wiped blood off his paws. "Well that was interesting. Let Cynder know that I visited. Asha, I hope to kill you someday soon; but until then I bid you good day and have a nice life." He gave Suna one final kick. " _Stop crying, it'll be regrown in about a year, assuming I haven't changed my mind and killed you by then._ "

The dark dragon gave Asha and her guards a mocking bow, then glanced around.

" _Now how do I get out of here? Or more accurately… how many of you do I need to kill before Asha will let me out of here?_ "

Asha gestured to three dragons. "Go and clear the streets along the path from here to the gates."

" _And don't forget to set a few traps while your at it._ " Hope said coldly.

Asha hesitated, and Hope stalked up to her.

" _Nobody leaves except me._ " He ordered. " _Unless you want to lead the way?_ "

Asha nodded. "Very well, I'll lead you out of the city." She turned and walked towards the door.

Hope followed at a polite distance, although he was quite confident he'd be able to kill her before she could react if he wanted to. Asha walked stiffly, leading him out of the room and down the corridors of the city. She curtly gestured everyone out of the way when they crossed her path. " _You're angry, aren't you?_ " Hope said. " _Is it because you hate feeling helpless? I can walk in here and pull a dragon's wing off, and all you can do is be a glorified escort._ " He laughed.

"I hope that the Warfang dragons can save you, but if they can't then I will be forced to hunt you down and kill you."

" _An empty threat, I think. But don't worry, I won't take it personally._ " Hope laughed again.

They walked through the streets without incident, and soon reached the city gates. Asha ordered the main gates to be opened for him. Hope didn't let his guard down until he was standing just outside.

" _No tricks or traps? I'm surprised at you._ " He said with a smile.

"I was tempted to try some of them, but it would have had to be an attempt to kill you, as we have no traps suitable for taking prisoners. But out of respect for what Spyro and Cynder did for us I decided to let you live."

" _You keep telling yourself that. I'll see you again later._ " Hope laughed and spread his wings, taking to the air and flying away.

He had done good work already. Suna wouldn't die, but Cynder would undoubtedly appreciate and understand what he was trying to show her. It was perfect.

But maybe… maybe she needed to be reassured, she wasn't thinking on his level yet. Perhaps he ought to tell her, face to face.

* * *

 **What is Malefor hiding? Will Hope go to Cynder, and what will he do if he does?  
**

 **I have a song planned out for Hope, another song that is, but the time is not yet right.**

 **I'm planning to try my hand at drawing another pretty picture, of Cynder and Spyro this time. Wish me luck!**

 **-4Dragons**


	45. Predators and Prey

Dealing with Dark Spyro was not going to be easy. Malefor and the Warfang dragons had an uncomfortable truce now, but even combined they weren't safe.

Cynder realised, with a hint of reluctance, that she was counting herself among 'the Warfang dragons'. She'd been essentially rogue for most of her life, at least during the parts of her life when she had been in control of her own mind and actions. But between Imperia and Ember and of course Spyro, there really was no getting away from how much Warfang meant to her.

Was Imperia still a Warfang dragon? Or did she come under the Malefor side of this alliance? Cynder didn't know, and if Imperia was asked she'd probably say she was on both sides or something along those lines.

The group had moved from Malefor's library, or whatever he called the room they had been in before; now they were waiting in the entrance chamber for Terrador and the others to return.

Imperia, too exhausted to walk on her own, had been essentially carried by Cynder and Volteer; now she was lying on the floor. However, she just happened to be lying underneath the huge window that had the silver dragoness image on it. The sight amused Cynder, making her grin faintly; she was much less impressive at the moment then she looked in the image, but at least she was more alive. The rest of the dragons had set up in a rough circle; although everyone was standing slightly away from Malefor.

A few quiet conversations broke out, Cyril and Flare informed the remaining dragons what had occurred; Volteer, Imperia and a green dragoness with uncommonly long horns were making small talk and trying to relax. Cynder sat next to Ember, looking around the room and thinking. Ember spent most of her time looking at Cynder, although with a few glances at the others, wondering how she should start a conversation with the black dragoness. Cynder probably needed some relaxing small talk just as much as Imperia did, but she might also just want to sit in silence.

It wasn't very long before Terrador and a group of three other dragons walked into the room. Flare did a quick headcount as she walked over to him, soon confirming that everyone they had brought with them was present; plus Cynder, Ember, Imperia and Malefor. Twenty dragons in total.

Terrador swept his gaze over the group, stopping in surprise when he saw Imperia, then freezing entirely when he spotted Malefor. He didn't know how to react, there was too much that needed explaining. Fortunately Flare was ready to bring him up to speed.

"Terrador, I'm glad you're alright. We're all fine, but Spyro is still missing, we've agreed to give Malefor slight trust at least until the matter of Dark Spyro is resolved. Imperia is alive, and you don't need to worry about me trying to re-kill her, tempting though it was."

It was still a lot to take in, but Flare had given Terrador enough information to go on with. "Thankyou. Now, if Dark Spyro is our first priority I assume that you want to find him. How?"

"Search parties. Volunteers only." Cyril said. "Malefor will not be directly associated with them, and I personally will ensure full safety precautions are taken. We have knowledge of Spyro's likely behaviour, and we have narrowed down places to search."

"And when we find him?" Terrador asked.

"They report back to you, and if you're wise then you will inform me." Malefor said, nodding to Terrador.

"And then?" Terrador continued, inclining his head to the purple dragon respectfully.

Malefor hesitated slightly. "I'm not entirely sure."

"I can talk to him, but even if I get him to change back it's not a proper fix to the problem." Cynder said.

"Remember what happened to Imperia." Malefor said. "Even dragons he cares for are not necessarily safe."

"I can take care of myself." Cynder said.

"I can't." Imperia joked. "Especially not right now." She got a few glares, but also a few smiles.

"At least you survived, and I'm sure you have a story about how; I'll want to hear it later." Terrador said, looking at Imperia fondly. "But if talking to Spyro won't work then what are our other options?" He looked back at Malefor.

The purple dragon looked thoughtful, he opened his mouth to speak but Imperia interrupted him.

"I have a story for that too." The silver dragoness said with a smug look on her face. She reached up with a paw and the Dragonslayer, still glowing softly with energy, appeared for her. "Spyro was kind enough to leave this for us, after he had used it on me. I made sure not to charge it with my own magic, and as long as Cynder and Malefor didn't mess with it after I died then the magic in here is still Spyro's."

Cynder frowned. "So what?"

Imperia giggled. "Well, that means we can use this magic on the soul crystal; then we kill Spyro's dark side and revive him without it; just like we did for Malefor!"

"No." Malefor said flatly.

Imperia tilted her head. "What's the matter? The energy in the staff isn't mine." She lightly threw the weapon to Cynder.

The black dragoness caught it in her mouth and then transferred it to a paw. She could feel the remains of power humming within; it wasn't her energy either, and it did feel rather like Spyro's magic. She was far from okay with the thought of killing Spyro, even temporarily, but it had worked before on Malefor and Imperia… "Seems like the best plan we have so far, although I don't like it either."

"We don't know how reliable the crystal is." Malefor warned them. "I doubt it was meant for the strain of containing many different dragons over such a short period of time. Imagine if we killed Spyro and it shattered a moment later. No, I want this to be done with no killing at all, of Spyro or anyone else."

"We can at least have it as a backup, though. That's what we did for Cynder to make totally sure she'd be safe." Imperia pointed out.

"Oh thanks." Cynder said dryly. "Good to know you two had me well looked after."

Imperia glanced away awkwardly. Malefor reached out a paw of the Dragonslayer, and Cynder gave it to him with a hint of concern. She, Spyro and Dark Spyro might have been challengers to Malefor, but the moment she gave him the spear there was no doubt in her mind that he was the most powerful dragon in the world. Well… perhaps aside from Dark Spyro when _he_ had been using the Dragonslayer.

Malefor waved the spear thoughtfully, not really knowing how exactly to wield it; but the potential it had was obvious, and disturbingly alluring. "I think it likes me, but the magic in here isn't mine." Malefor dropped the spear as soon as he could, before it tried to attune itself to his magic instead.

The spear vanished as it fell, reappearing after a slightly reluctant hesitation beside Imperia.

"We were the only three to touch it, so if none of us recognise the magic in the spear then it has to belong to Spyro." Malefor said. "That artefact is quite unsettling, I hope you'll look after it well Imperia."

"So we have a plan?" The silver dragoness asked hopefully.

"A _backup_ plan." Malefor insisted.

"Okay, then what's our plan A?" Cynder asked.

Malefor sighed, admitting defeat. "I don't know… yet."

"We can talk to him." Cynder said. "That's a start at least."

"If given time to research his condition it would surely be possible to counteract the adverse personality impacts caused by the alteration to Spyro's physical state." Volteer chimed in helpfully. "Unless of course the powers of Dark Spyro are in fact innate and it is instead a psychological barrier that prevented the Spyro we all know and love from accessing them."

Malefor drew breath to comment on that, but Volteer was Volteer, and he was just getting warmed up.

"In the latter case it would surely still be possible to resolve the problem, but there is a distinction in causality between the scenarios that is worth pointing out for posterity, prudence, practicality and accuracy, and as a preliminary outlook on the overall state of Spyro's mental wellbeing with-"

"That's enough Volteer, please." Terrador said. "Save it for when we return to Warfang." He looked at Malefor. "I'd like to request that you come back to Warfang with us."

Cyril cleared his throat, clearly unhappy with the idea. "I know I'll get outvoted, but I would still like you to know I object to allowing a dragon who has proven himself to be highly dangerous and quite untrustworthy into our city."

"He could walk in anyway, or did you want to pretend that never happened?" Volteer retaliated.

Cyril growled slightly. "He bleeds like everyone else; it's just a matter of finding the right strategy." He narrowed his eyes at Volteer, but after the electric dragon glanced away Cyril turned his icy gaze on Malefor instead.

Malefor met Cyril's gaze evenly, unable to deny the Ice dragon's accusations, but also unable to kill him and still be trusted. For the first time Malefor saw the ice dragon on the same level as Spyro, Cynder and Imperia; as a significant threat but also as a worthwhile potential ally.

Cynder, however, had an unsettling flashback; she didn't remember exactly the words he had chosen, but the fire king Magmar had told her something _very_ similar to what Cyril had just said. He had threatened her with a similar comment not long after he'd started trying to kill pretty much everyone she knew.

It was a meaningless thought. Cyril was nothing like Magmar, after all. At least… Cynder hoped he wasn't. She'd only just started to tolerate him existing.

Terrador spoke up, doing his best not to make this situation worse. "I share your concerns, Cyril." He looked back to the purple dragon. "You will be supervised during your stay, if you do decide to join us."

Malefor nodded politely. "I will come to Warfang, thankyou for the offer."

"The city will probably be almost as dangerous to you as you are to it." Cynder said.

Malefor sighed in agreement. "Yes, but I've done things to deserve that sort of treatment, both before and after I was overcome by my dark side; you didn't. I'll just accept it until we're done."

"Nobody deserves to be treated that way." Imperia said insistently. "You did your best, and I'll do everything I can to make sure nobody judges either of you unfairly."

"Actually you won't be doing much of anything." Flare said. "The moment we're back in Warfang you're going straight to your cell and spending your time there until we decide what to do with you."

"What, why?" Imperia looked bewildered. Flare pinned her with a stern glare.

"Because you betrayed us, you escaped, because you've caused a massive disaster, and because I don't want you getting yourself or others killed!"

Imperia hung her head. "Fair enough… But I can help, you'll-"

Flare cut her off again. "Don't try. I'm not going to negotiate on this one."

Imperia looked around for support, but didn't see any. Volteer and Cyril were in agreement, although the former did look a bit reluctant. Terrador looked neutral, and Malefor was certainly not going to give his opinion.

Cynder walked to the silver dragoness and put a wing over her slim shoulders. "I think you probably deserve this one. And besides, it'll keep you alive longer than the rest of us. Just think of yourself as Warfang's last hope if it makes you feel better. If we all die then you'll get to be speared again."

Imperia scowled. "I don't know how much of that was sarcasm, but I can tell you're teasing me."

"Don't worry." Cynder said with a playful smirk. "I'll make sure nobody judges you unfairly."

"Oh shut up." Imperia grumbled, but she couldn't resist giving Cynder an appreciative smile. "But thanks for cheering me up about this."

Cynder shrugged. "No problem. So does this mean we're all heading to Warfang?"

"Yes." Terrador said.

"Hopefully it won't be burned down when we get there." Cynder commented.

"That would be a bizarre action for Dark Spyro to take." Malefor said. "But… if he tried then he could almost certainly do it, so it would be wise for us to hurry."

* * *

Warfang was, to everyone's relief, not burned down and not in the process of being burned. The flight back had been tense and quiet, and even Malefor breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the city peaceful under the fading evening light. The group of dragons was met by a dozen guards from below as they were approaching the walls of the city. They were waved through, despite exclamations of worry at Malefor's presence; and eventually they all touched down in the temple at the centre of the city.

A pair of dragonesses waited for them, both pale in colour, one white and one silver. Both of them had needed to hurry out of bed in order to be there to meet the group, but it was impossible to tell that by looking at them as they were both perfectly composed.

Cynder and Malefor both faltered slightly, the silver dragoness looked identical to Imperia. Cynder had met Imperia's sister Altia before, but every time was still slightly unsettling. Malefor had only been told about Altia, and had almost doubted she was even real.

Altia's gaze swept over them all, counting quickly. As soon as she'd seen all of the Warfang dragons had returned, as well as Imperia, the wind dragoness stalked away without speaking so much as a word to any of them. The sight of Malefor, Ignitus, and Cynder seemed to have no effect on her.

The ice dragoness who had also come to meet them reminded Cynder very much of Asha, the fire dragoness from Shattershelf, as soon as she spoke. She had the same reassuring confidence and the same businesslike attitude.

"Welcome back to Warfang, I maintained a written report of everything that happened while you were gone and I can have it completed and summarised by morning. Is there anything that you need right away? Guard dragons? Medical attention? We can have a guest bedroom prepared, or a cell." She stared at Ignitus in particular, but was too disciplined to ask any non-urgent questions.

Terrador shook his head. "No thank you, Sheer. You've done well, I'll expect your report tomorrow but you can finish it in the morning rather than right now." He turned to the others. "You've all done well; you're free to go home. Report back here at midmorning when we will debrief, Sheer that includes you and Altia." He smiled, but then took a harder tone. "And no matter your personal feelings on this matter you are all forbidden from causing a panic about Malefor's presence in the city. It's no secret, tell others if you want or if you are asked, but do not incite fear."

He gazed around until he had seen everyone in the group nod. Malefor didn't nod, but everyone else did; even Cynder found herself nodding.

"Excellent. Rest well, we shall continue this in the morning."

* * *

Most of the group dispersed, with only the guardians, Cynder, Ember and Malefor remaining. Cyril summoned two of the guards from a nearby room and instructed them to keep watch over Malefor and take him to a room where he could stay for the night and then guide him back to the meeting room in the morning. Both of the dragons looked highly nervous, but did as they were told.

"Imperia, come on." Flare said, beckoning for the silver dragoness to follow her.

"Can I please not go to the cell… please?" Imperia asked sulkily.

"Cell. No negotiating." Flare said sternly. "But visitors can come if they wish." She said to the room at large, although mostly it was meant for Cynder.

Imperia sighed sadly, hanging her head and walking away beside Flare.

"I'm going to keep an eye on you for tonight, and organise a proper guard tomorrow. We can't have you escaping again." The rose fire dragoness said.

Imperia cheered up a bit at that, and cheered up more when Flare put a wing over her. "At least I won't be lonely, then." She purred slightly and swished her tail merrily as they left.

Cyril glanced at the others. "We should all get sleep. I expect we will have an exhausting few days ahead of us."

"To compliment the exhausting few days that we just went through." Terrador agreed. "I'm going to bed."

"So am I." Volteer said. "There are rooms here where you can sleep, Cynder, or you could go to Spyro or Imperia's homes, I'm sure they wouldn't mind. I'll be down the corridor left of the main entry way, just a short flight from here. Go there if you want to stay, if you need me for anything or if you'd just like to take a room close by." With that Volteer walked out of the room, leaving only Cynder and Ember.

"You can come to my family's home if you want…" Ember mumbled quietly, beginning to slink out and not really expecting Cynder to acknowledge the offer, let alone to accept it. However Cynder surprised her by darting to her side and walking with her.

"I'd really be grateful for that. Thanks Ember."

"Oh, no problem…" The pink dragoness said with a smile. "I think you're going to like it there, my parents are great…" She trailed off and stopped walking, a sudden look of horror appearing on her face.

"What's the matter?" Cynder asked, puzzled.

"I ran away from home…" Ember whispered, mortified. "They're going to kill me…"

Cynder frowned. "Seems a bit extreme. Do you want me to protect you? I'll try not to hurt them too badly."

Ember shook her head, beginning to walk again as she led Cynder through the quiet city streets. "Not literally. They're just going to scream at me, or maybe cry, and I bet I'll be imprisoned just like Imperia. Except probably not with any visits allowed. They'll probably throw me literally in the cell next to her if the guardians say they're allowed to."

"They don't sound very nice." Cynder observed.

"Oh they are, and I love them! And they love me, and that's why they're probably going to be so mad. Sort of like Flare was with Imperia. It's a protective sort of anger."

Cynder nodded. "I see what you mean."

"So, on second thoughts… You might want to go to Volteer instead, this could be a bit awkward. If you don't see me tomorrow you'll know I'm stuck in my room and not allowed to leave. Besides Volteer will probably be pretty lonely now that neither of his usual lady friends are around to keep him company."

Cynder rolled her eyes. "Do you ever _not_ think about dragons having affairs with each other?"

"I wasn't implying that you'd sleep with him! Well, maybe the idea crossed my mind, but really all I was trying to say is that you two being together would be pretty cute. It's called shipping, and it's one of the most fun things in the world."

"Shipping? I thought that's what moles did with trade goods, sending them up and down the river to other cities."

"Oh that's the mundane kind of shipping. Shipping you with Volteer is the fun kind."

"No offence, but you're weird. I have nothing against Volteer, but I think I'll stick with you for tonight. Unless you get _really_ unbearable."

"If my friends heard you saying that then they'd probably ship _us_." Ember laughed.

Cynder groaned. "There is really no way to win, is there?"

Ember giggled. "Not really. Although you can sit and watch as my parents kill me with words. That might count as a win for you, right?"

"I suppose so." Cynder agreed. But a worrying thought had just crossed her mind as well. "So… Do your parents think we hate each other? I mean, I'm not going to get screamed out of your house am I?"

"Oh…" Ember went into a sombre mood at the thought. "They think that we hate each other, but they've always said that they want me to reach my own decisions, they never really told me what they thought of you. I mean… they're smarter than I was a few years ago; when I first started hating you… so hopefully they figured out you were okay and they were just hoping I'd figure it out too…"

Cynder nodded, although she wasn't exactly reassured. She'd be surprised if anyone would allow Ember to be so angry towards her unless they were ignorant, cowardly, or they hated her too.

She would be disappointed if Ember's parents did turn out to be any of those things, but at least she still had Volteer's place to go to as an option.

* * *

Ember led the black dragoness to a much narrower street on the northeast side of the city, the walls meeting in an arch above them and blocking out the sky, but there were some warm yellow lights on in many of the windows, and softly glowing stones lighting the floor.

A shadow flickered over the alleyway, making Cynder nervous, but Ember seemed unconcerned and Cynder soon realised it was just a dragon walking in front of a fireplace in one of the windows.

The street was mostly quiet, but Cynder could easily tell that many dragons lived in this area. So this was where most of the dragons in Warfang stayed. Not at the dragon temple, and halfway across the city from where Spyro's rooms and Imperia's tower were.

Cynder could imagine this place being busy; there were plenty of nooks and open areas along the street where perhaps market stalls could be set up. It was, probably, a nice place; although Cynder had never liked crowds all that much and she doubted she ever would.

Ember walked up to one of the doors and stopped nervously, then she knocked. "Mum? Dad? I'm home."

Hardly a second later the door was opened by a friendly looking fire dragoness. Her scales were red, but her eyes and her mouth had a strong resemblance to Embers, a smile would look beautiful on her. Right now, however, she was not smiling; the expression on her face was a mixture of relief, shock, and outrage.

Before Cynder or Ember had time to wonder which one she would decide to act on first the dragoness threw herself forwards and wrapped Ember in an extremely tight hug.

"Ember! You're okay! I h-heard horrible things, after we were told what happened to Spark at the fire dragon city, I was so scared! Oh little heart, I'm so glad you're alright…"

The fire dragoness began to cry, and Ember also felt her eyes welling up as she remembered that her young cousin was dead. She buried her face in her mother's wing to hide the possible tears.

Another dragon walked up into the doorframe, also a fire dragon but one of the smallest adult males Cynder had ever seen. He glanced at Cynder, a look of surprise in his eyes which was soon replaced with gratitude. He then put a rather delicate wing on Ember's mothers back and nuzzled Ember's neck.

It was a few minutes before the fire dragoness was able to speak again. "Are you alright, little heart? Are you hurt? Where did you go? Are you hungry? Could you have caught a cold? Did they look after you in Shattershelf before that awful dragon went crazy? We were so worried when you wanted to go…" She began to fuss over Ember, checking her scales for scratches and trying to have a look in her mouth.

Ember blushed. "Mum… You're embarrassing me…"

Ember's mother narrowed her eyes, apparently now progressing to outrage. "We heard you were dying, we were worried sick, in fact worry is not nearly a strong enough word for it! We were- I don't even know what we were! Young lady, if you think that the worst thing that has happened these past few days is that you're getting _embarrassed_ in front of your friend then you have a lesson to learn-"

She paused suddenly, as she finally took in Cynder. The black dragoness would have very much preferred to stay out of this, but it was too late to turn into a shadow now. She wondered how Ember's mother would react.

"Ah… hello. I'm sorry about making a scene, I hadn't realised…" She didn't let Ember go, Cynder wouldn't be surprised if Ember was stuck in that grip for a solid week, but she did lift her head and bow slightly to the black dragoness. "My name is Shira, and I'm guessing I have you to thank for bringing my little girl home safely."

"Mum!" Ember groaned, looking at Cynder helplessly.

Cynder was slightly taken aback, but she shook her head. "Ember could look after herself. Not extremely well, to be fair, but well enough to get by. In fact she saved my life."

Shira blinked at her. "She… oh…" Shira looked back at Ember. "You did?"

Ember nodded. "With help, yes. But Cynder kept me safe. The only bad thing that happened to me was getting locked in a room for a while."

"Aside from the near death incident at Shattershelf." Cynder put in helpfully. A comment which Shira did not seem to appreciate.

"Ember I can't believe you put yourself in so much danger!" She hugged the pink dragoness tighter.

For Ember's sake Cynder decided not to mention that Malefor was the one who had eventually saved Ember's life. She doubted Ember could survive the hug tightening any more at the moment. "She got hurt saving me, and I'll be grateful to her forever."

Shira nodded. "We all do foolish things and get hurt sometimes, but doing it to save someone else is a better reason than most of us can claim to have." She kissed Ember's head. "I'm so proud of you. I want to hear everything that happened. But for now the most important thing is that you're back."

"And that Cynder is my friend now." Ember said.

"Any friend of Ember's is welcome in our home." Shira said, letting Ember go and stepping into the house. She beckoned the young dragonesses inside, and after sharing a smile Cynder and Ember walked into the house.

It was a large place, and quite nice, flower patterned scorch marks burned on the stone walls and comfortable couches which also had the occasional burn mark on them.

The male dragon had moved to sit beside the fire and was poking it with his wing, he smiled to Cynder and then moved across to hug Ember for a few seconds, before returning to the fireside. "My name is Vulken. I'm Ember's dad, and I'm pleased to meet you."

"He's Spark's dad too." Shira said softly to Cynder. "Forgive him not being in the most talkative of moods." She saw a questioning gaze from the black dragoness and shook her head. "I'm not Spark's mother. Just Ember's."

Cynder nodded, not feeling a need to pry for any more information. The three of them sat down on the couches in a rough circle.

Ember had her own line of questioning to go through; returning to a normal speaking volume because it was a less touchy subject. "So you seem surprised that Cynder is now my friend, but not angry."

Shira laughed lightly. "Why would we be angry? We're glad to see you make another friend."

Cynder shrugged. "I didn't think I had a very good public image. Especially not with the parents of one of my most vocal… uh…"

"Haters." Ember offered. "Ex hater now. And she has a point. You knew I couldn't stand her, so why did you let me go and do it?"

"I didn't wonder much about what Ember's parents would be like, I just figured they'd hate me as much as she did."

"Oh I couldn't hate you!" Shira exclaimed. "I've heard more than enough about you from Imperia to know that you were good hearted and meant no harm."

Ember frowned. "Then why did you let me do bad things? I went way too far! I wanted to burn her and see her humiliated! She nearly strangled me! Couldn't you have told me she was okay, or at least ordered me to not be so nasty?"

"We could have tried, but would you have listened? You're a headstrong girl, and very determined." Shira said. "We talked it over a lot, and went to Imperia about it as well. We didn't want Ember to think we were her enemies too. Cynder, I owe you an apology for not directly intervening between you and my daughter. I was horrified when you left Warfang. I'll understand if you don't forgive me…"

Cynder shrugged. "You're forgiven. I forgave Ember and Imperia for all the misery that they caused me, so forgiving anything else is not a big deal."

This was greeted by an awkward and extremely guilty silence.

Cynder frowned. "I see that didn't help all that much to make you feel better. So… uh… You seem nice." She looked at Shira, hoping to get them into a friendlier conversation. She did want to make a good impression on Ember's parents. "What do you think about all of the things that have been going on with Malefor?"

Shira frowned. "Well, most of Warfang is just confused. Scared, a bit, but really we don't know what's going on."

"Honestly I'm not totally sure either." Cynder admitted. "But we have a sort of alliance with him at the moment. Dark Spyro is a much bigger problem. I think Terrador is planning to address the city about the whole thing tomorrow. Certainly he's not trying to keep it a secret."

"Malefor is here." Ember said. "Staying in the Dragon Temple for the night. I met him. He was… interesting. Scary, but not in a dangerous sort of way."

Shira opened her mouth, then closed it again, trying to decide what to say. "Well… I hope that you're right. Although there isn't much we can do about it until the morning, I suppose. You two must be tired, you need to rest."

Cynder nodded in agreement. "Yeah… Thankyou…"

"Come on." Ember said, she wrapped her tail around Cynder's paw and tugged her to her feet. Cynder followed along behind the pink dragoness, and Shira walked behind them.

"I'll bring you two breakfast, and we'll be just in the other room if you need us for any reason. Sleep well." Shira smiled softly as she stopped, watching the two of them walk through into Ember's room.

Ember's room also had flower scorch marks on the walls, and a fire set and waiting to be lit. Shira closed the door behind them and Ember walked to the fire, lighting it with a quick burst of flames. The room warmed up almost immediately, and Ember waved a paw over the fire, lowering it until within a few seconds it was just a glowing bed of coals.

"Your parents were great." Cynder said.

Ember blushed slightly. "Thanks… I think they liked you too."

"Little heart, though?" Cynder raised an eyebrow teasingly. "I hadn't thought your own mother would consider you small hearted."

Ember glared. "It's my nickname from when I was a hatchling, and it's not my real heart. It's for my heart shaped tail blade."

"I know, and I think it's cute." Cynder said, smiling.

Ember blushed a bit more, and then looked at the bed. "I'm so tired…"

"Nobody ever said running away from home would be easy." Cynder laughed, then she looked at the bed and felt exhaustion wash over her too. She'd barely slept in almost two days. She just wanted to curl up and sleep for a month. "None of this was easy." She hopped into the bed and curled up, and soon Ember turned off the lights and curled up beside her.

Cynder smiled to herself, she could get used to this sort of bed and closeness. If only Spyro was here too…

"Sleep well Cynder."

"I will."

* * *

 **In hindsight I'd shift scenes in this chapter back into the previous, and perhaps include some hints about what Hope is doing at this time. I don't think I'll change this now, and the story as a whole isn't going to be any different because of it; but some observant readers did wonder about the previous chapter being shorter and not having as much plot or character development as most do, and that is a fair point.**

 **Another thing I wonder is if I might be providing too much fuel for shipping EmberXCynder. Although what is a fanfiction for if not suggesting the idea of two worst enemies having deeper feelings for each other?**

 **As always thanks for reading, please do leave a review.**

 **-4Dragons**


	46. Uneasy Allies

**For this chapter I suggest listening to Castle of Glass, by Linkin Park. The lead singer, Chester, recently died, may he rest in peace. I've never been the most noisy fan of this band, but I enjoyed their work all the same.**

* * *

The dragon chronicler had no need for sleep; an ability that Ignitus was thankful for. He was still able to sleep, and he even still felt weariness and tiredness; but if he needed to go without sleeping then he could do so with no negative effects.

Usually he would sleep; he had always known that premonitions, visions, and messages came more easily to a sleeping dragon; and being the chronicler had only increased his understanding of just how important that could be. But he also genuinely enjoyed dreams; even the strange and meaningless ones that were all he usually received. Ignitus had always been relatively fortunate with his ability to remember his dreams; it was a completely useless ability for a guardian and yet strangely it was one of the things he was most thankful for.

In the earliest hours of the morning most of Warfang was asleep; the sun would not dawn for hours yet. They lacked his ability to function at times like this, they were still natural dragons after all. He was… something else.

Ignitus stopped outside a room with two guards, Malefor's room. He wondered if the purple dragon had the same ability Ignitus did, or if he was going to be woken out of his sleep. Ignitus found little sympathy for Malefor if it would be the latter case; the purple dragon had not earned any kindness from him.

"Sir, you can't come in here." One of the guards said.

"None of the guardians ever specifically gave that order." Ignitus replied. "And I have an excellent memory for such things." He gazed at the earth dragoness who had spoken; he knew her from at least fifty years ago. She had been a novice in Warfang at the time. "Shade, isn't it? I'm glad to see you're well. During the dark times I despaired and lost touch with Warfang. I did often wonder if everyone was alright; although I foolishly assumed the worst."

"You were a hero." Shade replied. "And you returned still as a hero when you brought in Spyro. Maybe you made mistakes and just got lucky; but you're still a hero to a lot of Warfang; especially after you gave your life to defeat…"

"Him." Ignitus finished, nodding at the closed door. "Well, his dark side. I don't trust this supposedly pure Malefor much more than I trusted the old one; but we do need his help."

"Why do you want to see him?" Asked the other dragon. A lightning drake who Ignitus did not recognise.

"He has taken something from me; this is an issue that is not related to Spyro and therefore it's something I'd prefer to settle with Malefor myself. Do not worry, I will be cautious and tactful. You will not need to fight him, and this will not jeopardize the alliance between him and Warfang."

Shade and the other dragon discussed quietly between themselves for a minute, then stepped aside. "Very well Ignitus. Just be careful. And if there is a fight then we'll do our best to aid you; even if that means attacking Malefor."

Ignitus bowed his head. "Thankyou. Both of you." He knocked politely at the door and then stepped through.

Malefor, sitting at the window and staring out into the night sky, turned and looked at him idly. "Not going to ask for permission to enter?"

Ignitus shook his head. "This isn't even your room, and you certainly never asked permission to enter my home."

Malefor chuckled. "For the record I did ask, and you refused. I can see you're still annoyed about that; and I presume that the guardians have no idea you're here to talk to me. You had better be careful not to, how did you put it? 'jeopardize my alliance with Warfang.' Don't go starting an argument Ignitus, your pride might cause a rift between Warfang and myself. After all I only really need help from Cynder."

Ignitus paused, annoyed at Malefor's arrogance and considering how best to make a cutting reply. But was it his own arrogance causing him to do this? Malefor had stolen at least two books from his library, and Ignitus' goal was to get them back; not to try and take some vengeance.

Malefor looked back out at the sky. Ignitus sighed and spoke. "Every dragon for themselves. It's a miracle we have a society left at all. And not just dragons, the canines, the moles, especially the cheetahs and other felines. Everyone is only interested in bettering themselves; and yet we are made worse by it. How else could a seemingly inferior species like the apes rise to be the dominant force in the world? They didn't have the strength of dragons, the expertise of moles, or the survival abilities of the other furred races."

"You forget that the apes disagreed eventually, and now they are in ruins if not completely extinct." Malefor observed.

"And you forget that your dark side was the one that put them there." Ignitus shot back instantly.

"True."

Malefor inclined his head, he met the Chronicler Dragon's gaze with his own vibrant purple eyes. Ignitus' rusty brown eye colour was the only thing that had survived his transformation into a blue dragon; but Malefor had never known Ignitus' eye colour before he'd transformed and he didn't notice it now either.

"What I did to the apes was one of my many mistakes. If you want me to admit I've done the wrong thing then fine, I have. I regret things. You win. But if you're trying to make me atone, then don't bother. I am already atoning in the most useful way that I can: by bringing peace to this world. Serving a sentence that someone like you imposes would only get in the way of that task I have set myself."

Malefor looked away, but not before Ignitus had noticed the exhaustion in his eyes and his tone. "You haven't had any sleep have you?" He asked.

Malefor sighed and shook his head. "No I haven't."

Clearly the purple dragon needed rest; despite his powers he was still just a normal dragon in that way. He would be sleep deprived before long due to his stubbornness. "Why aren't you sleeping?" Ignitus asked.

"Why aren't you?" Malefor responded.

"Sleep is a luxury for me, not something I need anymore. But you do need sleep; so why aren't you sleeping?"

Malefor gazed out at the skyline of Warfang. "I haven't slept, and I haven't eaten either. I don't trust this city. Did you know there are three poison dragons here? Every living known poison dragon is right here in Warfang. Cynder is one of course, there is also Imperia's beloved student Nadder as well as her sister Miasma. I would not trust any of those three to save me from an assassination; they would be as likely to help kill me as they would to cure me from poison. Dragons are resistant to most poisons, and with my healing I would be even more difficult to kill; but it would be stupid of me to eat, drink, or sleep."

"You don't trust others enough, do you?" Ignitus said.

"Enough?" Malefor raised an eyebrow. "An interesting choice of word. I do trust some individuals, eventually; and to a degree."

"Imperia, for example?" Ignitus queried.

"She's a special case. I trust her completely because I know that she has my best interests in mind every time she does something she thinks will affect me; and she generally has a positive effect on the world around her even when she isn't acting with a plan in mind."

"That doesn't make her special, that makes her normal. I think that's what you fail to understand: even people who don't seem perfect at first, people who have flaws and weaknesses or who keep secrets about themselves from you… it doesn't really matter, because people are good hearted."

Malefor laughed wryly. "Murder, capitalism, oppression, war, rape. 'People' are not good hearted; they are selfish and stupid animals, always obsessed with themselves, who need some sort of leader to keep them in line. Religion did the job in the tribal ages, the Guardians do their best now, but if there was nothing then the world would spiral away into chaos."

"There are some bad hearted ones among us, but every individual has both good and bad in them. I'd trust my life to any dragon in Warfang, not only Imperia."

"You're dead." Malefor pointed out. "This trusting others with your life caper did not end well for you."

"I gave my life, protecting Spyro from the ring of fire." Ignitus said with a smile. "He and Cynder trusted me, a cowardly old dragon who they by all rights could have blamed for all of their problems. They trusted me and my flaws with their lives, and I did not let them down."

"You're no coward." Malefor said, startled by Ignitus being so harsh on himself.

"I was." Ignitus said firmly. "I ran and hid and left my apprentice Flare to fight and maybe even die in my place. I couldn't endure the war when I thought all hope was gone. The other guardians were captured and the promised hero was nowhere to be seen because I had failed them all when I let Spyro's egg wash away down a river. I searched for Spyro one last time, and when I failed I stayed hiding away in that miserable swamp because I couldn't bear to return. That was a cowardly act."

"Well…" Malefor hesitated. He felt this bizarre urge to say something nice to Ignitus, to reassure him. But he didn't know what he could say. What sort of comment could he make that would not come across as hollow flattery? "Well… I always respected you; and in the end you played an essential role in destroying the Dark Master. So even with your flaws you were up to the task. I suppose you could say that I had a form of trust in you during that time; and you didn't let me down."

Ignitus responded with a smile, a genuine smile that hid no plots, no ploys, and was not a calculated action. A normal smile of true appreciation.

Malefor's lips twitched upwards as he did his best to return a smile of his own. He was not entirely sure how this had happened or even what exactly had happened; but he felt he'd done a good thing for Ignitus and it felt… nice. "I suppose you do have a point. If everyone in society was as selfish and untrustworthy as I sometimes act like they are then society itself would have collapsed by now no matter what was trying to keep it together. Don't expect me to eat or sleep anytime soon, or to expose my back to an assassin's blade. I'm not that careless; but I suppose that you are right about trust. I can afford to extend trust a bit more easily. Maybe…"

Ignitus almost wished the purple dragon goodnight and left then and there; but he suddenly remembered that he hadn't yet gotten what he had come for. "Do you trust me enough to tell me which books you took from my library? You can keep them if you need them, but I want to know."

Malefor froze for a moment, feeling that he had been manipulated. Ignitus' talking about trust had just been a well executed ruse to put him in this position and further undermine his mental state with guilt and suspicion. At least the accursed old drake hadn't made him promise. Malefor would have been in an even worse position if he'd needed to break his word in order to refuse…

What was he thinking? Malefor shook his head to clear it. He was jumping to a conclusion. Ignitus had been talking about something he genuinely believed in, he was not cunning enough to take his bright view of the world and turn it into a tool for bending others to his will. That was what Malefor did, not Ignitus. No. This was simply chance, that Malefor had opened himself up to Ignitus so far while forgetting why the Chronicler had come to visit him at all.

Ignitus had been being genuine through their conversation, he'd had no plan for how to make Malefor tell him what he wanted to know; he'd just gotten lucky.

Ignitus watched worriedly as Malefor looked away, the purple dragon had tensed up and it was obvious that his mind was working furiously to comprehend something. Paranoia caused by sleep deprivation, no doubt. Malefor's naturally suspicious and overly calculating mind probably wouldn't be helping him either. Ignitus felt a twinge of pity for the ancient dragon before remembering Malefor could tear him limb from limb with about as much effort as it would take him to kill a rabbit. Actually even with that thought in mind Ignitus still felt sympathy; it was just tempered by caution.

Malefor suddenly chuckled, a sound with a slight undertone of madness to it; but he was laughing at himself. "My apologies, Ignitus. I've gotten more emotionally invested in this conversation than I had realised…" He thought for several moments. "If I asked you to trust me, and then I told you that you don't need or want to know?"

It was Ignitus' turn to hesitate. "I… would trust you. Reluctantly."

"Well I'll tell you anyway, it's no great secret. I took two books. Spyro's life story, frustratingly incomplete though it is, and one other that will hopefully be of value in the future. They're both safe enough at my fortress; hidden so that neither Spyro nor you would be able to find them easily."

"So you won't tell me what the other book is?" Ignitus asked.

"It's Tales of Our Guardians, although the guardians referred to within it are not the ones which protect and command Warfang."

"Indeed. That book is a history of the Dragon Ancestors; it tells you how to find their council, who they are, and what they can and have done."

"It's full of glowing praise for them, but there are some useful bits of information to be dredged out of it."

"Useful… how?" Ignitus asked cautiously.

"Useful for someone who wanted to kill the gods." Malefor replied softly.

"Impossible." Ignitus whispered. "I've researched the Ancestors, I wanted to know more about the spirits we pray to. They are good, they are not violent, not dangerous. They don't deserve to be attacked by you or anyone else."

"They oppress dragonkind, they are insidious; turning us against each other. War, famine, cruelty; such things are well within their power to cause."

"They have no motive." Ignitus countered. "Why would they do that?"

"Control." Malefor told him. "They've stagnated our societal progress at this stage since recorded history. Steam and metal springs are not the limits of technology; and yet we have never done anything better. They're keeping our numbers low and keeping us in the dark."

"Even if that is the case, which I cannot bring myself to believe, they must have their reasons. The ancestors protect us; that is their duty. My position as the Chronicler makes me part of their kind, and I assure you that I'd only act in dragonkind's best interests."

"And yet you've never met these legendary figures, the embodiments of war, hope, willpower, serenity; the whole pantheon. You've never encountered any of them."

"Well no. But we don't need to."

"On the contrary, Ignitus. My eventual goal has always been to track them down and make them explain themselves."

"And if you don't like their explanation?"

"Crush them into submission; of course." Malefor said coolly. "Preferably without casualties, but I'll do whatever is necessary."

"What if I'm right? What if they are doing this for the sake of us all?"

"I doubt that. I think they have their own interests at heart."

"And I feel that perhaps you do too. If they have a good enough explanation then you have to leave them be. To do anything else would make you a tyrant."

"And a hypocrite." Malefor agreed. "We can't have that. In the unlikely event that the Ancestors do have a suitable reason for their actions then I shall leave them be."

"Are you sure you even have the power to challenge them?" Ignitus asked. "Not even you are undefeatable."

"Perhaps not. But with the aid of Spyro and Cynder I am extremely confident in the chances of success."

"Was this your final goal all along? You wanted to get Spyro and Cynder on your side so you had fighters to support you on this mad bid for godhood."

"You make that sound so selfish." Malefor chuckled. "I want to protect the world from their dark sides. If they join me in achieving my next goal that will simply be a bonus. But if they choose to live their own lives after they're free then I would not presume to stop them."

"You have fallen far. Even your lighter self is shrouded in darkness and evil." Ignitus sighed. "There is still hope for you… although it is scarce." He bowed slightly to the purple dragon. "I'll see you again soon, I'm sure."

"I look forwards to it." Malefor said dryly. "Please don't mention any of this to the others."

Ignitus sighed. "You can trust me. I won't tell them about this. But with all my heart I wish that you'll turn away from this path. You will not find any happiness down that road."

"Your advice is noted." Malefor said. He returned to staring out of the window as Ignitus departed.

* * *

After breakfast Cynder and Ember joined Ember's parents in wandering to the Dragon Temple; many other dragons were migrating in the same direction as rumours had spread that Terrador was going to address everyone about the events that had gone on after the Shattershelf siege. Cynder and Ember had told the pink dragoness' parents the basic account of what had gone on, without going into too great detail or trying to guess what Terrador had planned for them to do next.

Embers parents had been attentive listeners, asking insightful questions when they wanted something to be explained while still respecting that Cynder and Ember didn't want to be fussed over too much.

The four of them joined a murmuring crowd in one of the meeting rooms in the Temple; staying quietly on the edge of the group.

Volteer wandered into the room, giving cheerful smiles to whoever he recognised or whoever caught him in eye contact. There was no raised part of this room, making things informal but also making it difficult for the crowd to see what was going on. Volteer balanced on his hind legs and cleared his throat.

"Ahem! Excuse me everyone! Can we have some quiet in here?"

The volume of the dragons talking lessened somewhat. Volteer nodded in satisfaction before continuing to speak.

"Thankyou! Now, ahem, this room is not entirely fit for purpose; such a gathering would be more suitable for the auditorium. However we shall make do with this, so can I get you all to genuflect. Relax? Take a seat? Sitting room only, that type of thing." He chuckled. "Also can those of you at the front shuffle back somewhat? Several moles want to be here to see what's going on, so make some room here please!"

The crowd gradually did as Volteer asked, everyone sat down and a group of about thirty moles who had been hovering by the door finally came in and sat down. They looked like a class of young dragons to Cynder, a mental image that made her snort slightly to herself in amusement.

The black dragoness glanced around the room, she saw about a hundred dragons had gathered, although more latecomers were drifting into the hall and sitting down.

The volume of conversation, which had stayed low after Volteer's announcement, suddenly rose to an urgent pitch as Terrador walked into the room accompanied by the purple dragon himself, Malefor.

A few of the dragons stood up in panic, shock, or anger, but Volteer and Terrador both spoke at the same time to ensure that the room stayed under control. "Everyone sit down please!"

Reluctantly the other dragons sat down, although the volume in the room stayed at almost a roar of argument and conversation. Everyone stayed away from Malefor, many wary or angry looks were directed at him. He didn't seem to care very much about the fuss; or perhaps he was simply trying to appear unconcerned.

Terrador waited for several minutes until dragons had stopped arriving, but he soon realised that this was pointless. All of Warfang would be packed into this room if he waited for long enough, so he might as well get started. The Earth Guardian cleared his throat and asked for silence.

About a quarter of the crowd noticed and quieted; the rest of the group all talked until they were eventually shushed by those who had paid more attention.

Terrador remained standing, with Malefor standing partially behind him. Volteer joined the moles on the floor and listened.

"Thankyou everyone for coming. I apologise for the lack of space; this was meant to be a debriefing for the dragons who went on our mission, and I was planning to make an official announcement later today. I'll make the announcement now informally; and I'd like everyone to tell anybody who didn't attend here that I will address the city as a whole in the main square this afternoon."

Several dragons tried to speak up with questions or comments, but Terrador gestured for silence and they subsided.

"The guardians led a relief force to Shattershelf several days ago; we successfully saved the city. However Spyro was captured by Malefor. This is common knowledge around Warfang at the moment; but now that we have enough information I can clarify what has occurred since then. The rumour that Imperia turned traitor to the guardians and this is why she was imprisoned is true; however we currently have her re-captured and she's not considered any threat to Warfang."

Terrador paused for breath, but nobody interrupted him this time.

"Cynder and Ember went after Spyro. Imperia later escaped and followed. We arranged a small force and pursued."

For the sake of brevity Terrador left out the detail that Malefor had come to free Imperia, as well as where they had gone.

"By the time we arrived we found that Spyro had turned to his dark form and fled; while Imperia had been… very seriously injured… trying to keep him under control. Malefor played an important role in saving her life; and we've decided to give him a degree of trust in return for his help with bringing Spyro back alive and well."

"Are you insane!?" One of the dragons at the back of the group yelled. "He's a mass _mass_ murderer! You Guardians are supposed to be protecting us, not trusting rogue psycho and freakishly powerful dragons to stay in the city!"

"The duty of the Guardians is to make informed decisions and choose the right path even if it is difficult or involves taking risks. If you have information that is relevant and not biased by hatred then take it up with one of the guardians once this meeting is over. If anyone else has information that we ought to know then don't shout about it now in front of the dragon who you're concerned about." He gazed sternly around the room. "Does anyone else have any criticism to make that's too urgent to wait until later?"

There were a few unhappy growls, but nobody said anything.

"Malefor? Would you like to speak?" Terrador stepped across so that Malefor was in more direct view.

The purple dragon paused, thinking. "I'm sure most of you have bad history with the Dark Master. I do as well…" He trailed off for a moment, deciding what to say. "As I told a friend not long ago; I've chosen how to make amends for my past. I'm serving my own sentence; so any vendettas or personal attempts at making me pay will simply be a waste of my time."

The purple dragon stepped back slightly, before thinking of something else to add.

"I'm pleased to be back in Warfang, and I'm no danger to any of you. You might not believe that at first; but when in time you all find yourself still alive you'll realise that I can be trusted, I hope."

An uncomfortable and rather hostile silence met his words. Malefor shrugged, seeing that he wasn't going to win the room over to his side anytime soon. He stepped back to be behind Terrador so the green dragon could close out the meeting.

"Alright, we'll be asking for volunteers to search for signs of Spyro. It will be dangerous, and we won't force anyone to search. Anyone who wants to join a search party should speak to Cyril to receive a group, a search area and advice on remaining safe. Only dragons who are adult and have proven themselves capable or well trained will be accepted; at Cyril's discretion. He'll be in his office I expect, look for him there. We'll have the city wide announcement in the main square in several hours, tell everyone who didn't make it here. This meeting is now over, thankyou for attending."

A murmur of conversation came from the group at that. Terrador bowed slightly to the crowd and then walked out, followed by Malefor.

Volteer stood up and smiled around the room. "Thankyou again! Malefor seems like an interesting and decent enough dragon to me at least. I do hope you'll give him a chance. Warfang has not been as welcoming in the past as I would like." He glared slightly, and then tilted his head at a more cheerful angle. "We're a welcoming, safe, and strong city because we all support each other. I'm proud of that." With that the lightning Guardian followed Malefor and Terrador out of the room.

* * *

The crowd of dragons drifted away, talking amongst themselves. Cynder, Ember, Shira and Vulken began to wander back to Ember's parent's house.

"Well that was concerning, but also a bit relieving at the same time." Shira said thoughtfully. The fire dragoness swished her tail in a way that reminded Cynder of Flare for a moment. "I still find it hard to believe Imperia was in cahoots with Malefor; and as for Spyro… I'll see about joining a search party. He's done a lot for Warfang and he deserves all the help we can give. I liked what Volteer said about us being a safe and supportive city."

"It's certainly better than Shattershelf. No offence to them." Cynder said.

Ember nodded. "True. But there are plenty of good dragons there as well as there are here."

"I keep on hearing that." Cynder noted. "I'm not sure if I'm beginning to believe it or if I should hang a flag on my tail which says 'I've heard this all before.'"

Ember giggled. "I think you'd get more use out of a 'Not as grumpy as I look' flag."

Cynder huffed, but had to show a slight grin. "I can neither confirm nor deny that."

Shira and Vulken looked on, smiling; both pleased to see their daughter getting on so well with Cynder.

Vulken frowned. "I never was much of a fighter, but I think I might be able to look for Spyro too."

Shira put a wing over him reassuringly. "I'm sure we'll go into a group together, I'll feel safer knowing you're there."

Vulken smiled. "But you're the one who's probably going to be looking out for me."

Shira licked his cheek. "You'll do great I'm sure."

Ember rolled her eyes and looked to Cynder. "They're going to keep on being weird, let's escape while we can."

Cynder nodded and shrugged in agreement; she and Ember left them to it.

The pink and black dragons waved goodbye and then wandered off into the streets.

"Where are we going?" Cynder asked curiously, as Ember seemed to be walking in a more purposeful way as if she had someplace in mind.

"I don't know." Ember said, smiling. "I just want to escape before my parents remember they wanted to ground me. We can go meet up with the others. That's where I was thinking we'd go, I suppose. They'll probably be in the common area on the north side of the city trying to find out what happened. I didn't see them at the meeting."

Cynder nodded. "Cool. Although I think I'll let you handle telling them all about it. Most of them probably still don't like me." She frowned to herself, trying to remember them all. A lot had happened since she'd fought with Ember and her posse in the arena.

"Flora may not like you, but the others will be fine I'm sure." Ember said hopefully. "I was always the most nasty about you, so without me doing that it'll all be okay."

"Well your parents turned out way nicer than expected, so probably these guys will too." Cynder agreed.

Ember led the way, and they soon arrived in a nice town square with several dragons talking or relaxing. The city seemed to have come to a partial standstill, nobody looked busy anymore, instead they all just seemed to be waiting.

Among the crowd were several dragons of Cynder's age who she recognised. Ember's friend group of Flora, Flame, a lightning drake and an ice dragoness were all there; and so were Seizo and Miasma hovering on the edge of the group. They were all looking around, talking amongst themselves, or asking other dragons if they'd heard what Terrador had told everyone.

The ice dragoness noticed Ember and Cynder and immediately pointed them out to the rest of the group. She beckoned them to a more private spot and they soon gathered in a small alcove off the main square.

Ember gathered Flora and the ice dragoness in a hug. "Cyria! Flora! I've missed you guys!"

"You were only gone a few days." The ice dragoness, Cyria, noted. Cynder remembered more about her now, she was the trainee ice guardian and she'd been the first to make it up to Cynder after the fight had happened. She'd also been the most difficult opponent out of the group.

Ember nodded. "Yes but a lot happened and it felt like ages."

"A lot must have happened." Flame agreed. "You and Cynder were right in the middle of it! It must have been incredible. Is it true that Spyro turned dark to stop Malefor destroying the world?"

"Rumours have been going around like crazy." Cyria said. "I thought it'd be best for us to talk here in a bit of privacy otherwise the whole crowd of dragons would be trying to interview you two."

"Malefor didn't try to destroy the world." Cynder said, doing her best to slip into the conversation without being noticed too much. "Spyro went dark sort of by accident. It definitely wasn't his choice or his fault."

"Malefor doesn't seem like a world destroyer dragon to me." Ember added brightly. "I met him." She looked proud. "He was scary, but not _that_ scary. Sort of like Cyril."

"Ahh, because we needed another Cyril." Cyria laughed. "My uncle is such a nightmare, but he's a great dragon in his own way and he's great at teaching. Cyril is scary, but he's not bad sort of scary. So the whole thing about the Dark Master being separate, that's true?"

"Yep." Ember confirmed enthusiastically. "I'll start from the start and tell you guys everything!"

While the pink dragoness began to tell the, by now well rehearsed, story; Miasma and Seizo circled around the group to be near Cynder. Those two were closer friends to Spyro, and knew Cynder a bit better.

"Are you okay?" Seizo asked quietly to Cynder.

She nodded. "Not too bad I suppose. We're going to get Spyro back, so there are better things to be doing than just me feeling bad for him."

Seizo nodded in agreement. "That's a good way to be. With that mindset I'm sure we'll be able to get him back in no time." He looked at Miasma; the poison and shadow dragoness did not seem so confident, although that may have just been her natural shyness. He put a wing around her and smiled encouragingly.

"So… how have you two been?" Cynder asked curiously.

They both blushed deeply and mumbled about how things were going great between them. Cynder giggled slightly and decided not to press for more details. They all tuned back in to Ember and let her finish filling them in on the details of everything that had gone on.

"And then Terrador told us to go see Cyril if we want to join in the search for Spyro!" The pink dragoness said. Then she frowned. "But they also said we'd have to be adult… so we're probably not allowed to help." She sighed in frustration.

"That's sensible, even though it's disappointing for us." Seizo said. "Although I think you'd find searching to be more boring than you expect."

"It's not about being the one to find Spyro. It's just that I want to help."

"Really?" Seizo said, not quite able to hide his scepticism.

Ember bit her lip and nodded. "I've been really selfish for a long time, but I don't want to be that same Spyro obsessed narrow minded dragon anymore. I want to help Spyro, not be his hero. I'm not strong enough to be a hero anyway…" She sighed again.

"You are actually." Cynder said. "You saved me and you've been so brave."

"Maybe I'm a hero trainee." Ember said, unable to remain mournful for long. "But still, I just want to help in whatever small way I can, and if I can't be part of a search party I'm not sure what to do."

"I'm not sure search parties will find anything at all." Cynder said gravely. "I think that Dark Spyro is going to come to us. Specifically he's going to come for me and Malefor. We'll have to get ready for him, and quickly."

* * *

 **I had a huge part with Hope that was going to go in this chapter, but then I decided it would be neater if it went in the next one. Sorry to be such a tease, but on the plus side the next chapter is over halfway written already!**

 **I'll see you soon~**

 **-4Dragons**


	47. Looking for Answers

Hope was alone.

The waves far below were company of a sort. Pain was a more present partner. Spyro, hidden deep within his mind and stubbornly trying to wrest control back from him, was also there.

But Cynder was not, and she was the only one that mattered, the only thing in the whole world that was absolutely essential and that he could never ignore or destroy. Without her Hope was alone, no matter what trivial things crossed his mind.

It was for Cynder's sake that he was here, a solitary shape flying high above the ocean. He remembered that Malefor had found the library of the chronicler. Logically if Malefor could do it than Hope could as well, and when he did there would be his book and Cynder's book. Once he had both books he would see their destiny, and then all he would need to do was show Cynder what he found, and when she saw that they were fated to be together, when he offered her his eternal love… she would accept him, and return to her pure self as the Terror of The Skies.

Then the world would be complete. Then they could do whatever they wanted. It was perfect.

But there was one problem.

He couldn't _find the Island!_

Hope roared in fury, he had been creating a wind for himself to speed his journey, but now he called up a storm around himself to make him fly even faster, until the waves blurred past and he could barely see. There was nothing! Nothing!

He had flown without rest for a day and most of a night to reach the Legacy Sea. The White Isle was here, it _had_ to be here! But where? How?

Hope slowed down, hovering. Blood dripped from his wings and fell to the sea far below. He had not been shielding his wings the way that Cynder could, and the long hours of great speed had taken their toll. His wings were ragged and bloody, the scales worn through by the roughness of the wind. They were healing slowly even as he watched, but it took all of Hope's resistance to pain to keep himself aloft.

By the time he found the island and flew back to Warfang he might have no wings at all. Like Suna.

Hope chuckled at the memory of the fire dragon screaming. Maybe he should have taken his other wing too. Teach that idiot drake a lesson for daring to compete for Cynder's affection.

But no, he had spared him for a good reason. If Cynder wanted Suna as her plaything then she could have him. Hope wanted Cynder to be utterly happy, he would not break the things that she liked. At least… not if he could help it.

The silver dragoness was dead and gone, that had not entirely been his fault, lashing out in panic and anger as Spyro had almost succeeded in crushing him back into the darkness, but he had still done it. He hoped Cynder could forgive that. Imperia. She had meant a lot to Cynder, and to Spyro as well. She would almost certainly have made a good pet. Hope would have been pleased if Cynder had wanted to keep her. Hope felt no desire for Imperia's body, Spyro might have felt like that towards Imperia; Hope wasn't quite sure; but Cynder was the only thing that _he_ loved in that way. Still… he had liked Imperia. She had been amusing.

The pain was really annoying, but the feeling in his wings was only a minor concern compared to how much it burned him to be unable to face Cynder. Every moment he waited he would need to get back, he-

No… he had an eternity, he had all the eternities to come. Endless time to spend with Cynder. He needed to do things right. The time he had to wait now wouldn't mean anything once she had finally come to her senses and accepted his true nature… and her own.

He began to flap slowly in a direction, following the sun. He knew where south was, he needed south to get back to Cynder. Other than that he was only following his instincts, not really knowing where to look. Malefor had supposedly found the island with ease, but Hope did not know how to do that. It was frustrating. He could have killed Malefor in combat, but in at least one way the irritating old dragon still had the advantage over him.

Blood dripped, brushed off his wings by the wind; swirling and falling to the sea far far below. The drips were out of time, hard to count. He stopped trying after several minutes. Scanning the horizon for something, anything, was a better use of his attention.

There… something distant.

Hope flew closer, seeing something huge on the horizon, partly hidden by clouds. Soon he recognised land. Solid ground. Only… it wasn't solid. It was floating. An entire mountain range, floating slowly away across the ocean as if it had been too lazy to come all the way back down after Spyro had repaired the world.

Hope narrowed his eyes. The legends said that the Ancestors held their councils on a floating island beyond the waves. Now Hope had located a floating island shrouded in mysterious clouds; could this be the place?

There were still waves below the island, but it was the only thing worth finding that he had yet spotted out here.

Hope wondered if he would be able to stand up to the Ancestors if he fought them. They were pure embodiments of traits, their powers would surely be strong but narrowly focused. Perhaps he could threaten them into giving him what he wanted. They would need to be destroyed eventually one day, but he would want Cynder by his side for that.

Legends on the Ancestors and their home were frustratingly vague, the only real details were in how a dragon ought to go about respecting and seeking the help of them in prayer. There were stories of great temples and fountains, of council chambers and ethereal dragons surrounding a pool of visions, but nothing of what the ancestors were made of or why they were there.

Hope saw none of that as he flew closer, but he did see new things of interest. The floating island was in fact at least six individual islands, all travelling in a loose pack. Huge flying creatures slowly swooped around them, and the islands themselves had massive sails built out of their mountains to catch the wind.

A distant sound reached Hope, the slow and rhythmic whomp of propellers. As he got close enough to make out individual peaks and valleys in the green forests he finally saw enough to realise what he had come across.

The flying creatures were not living things, they were ships, hundreds of massive floating ships circling these islands. There were ramshackle towns on the islands, and each island had vast propellers and rudders to control it.

The clouds were steam and smoke, both expelled in great quantities from the chimneys on the floating land and from pipes in the flying ships.

An alarm was raised, a cacophony of howls and barks came from above. Hope growled as a huge ship descended on him from the clouds, followed by two smaller ones. A scouting group, or some guards. Either way they were now bearing down on him, dozens of canons emerging from the ships sides and turning to sight him.

Skavengers. Hope narrowed his eyes as he watched them fly. With a beat of his wings he ascended, hearing the creatures scramble to target him again. Flying above the three ships now he looked down at them, watching the crews scramble about on the decks.

Skavengers were a part of the wolf race. The technical term for the entire race was canines, but it was far simpler to put Skavengers in a group with their eastern wolf cousins and ignore the subtle differences.

Crossbow users on the larger ship gathered at the front and took aim, Hope dove as they opened fire. A few bolts bounced off his scales without so much as scratching him, one stuck in a raw part of his wing, stabbing into him painfully but not slowing him down. A lucky shot. The rest all missed, and some even landed on the smaller ships causing angry yelling between the crews.

The bigger ship was setting up a larger crossbow like device with heavy nets being loaded into it. Hope had also dodged back into range of the canons, and a few of the Skavengers fired their canons at him before being given orders. Hope dodged those too, being hit by a cannonball would be irritating.

He circled over the bow, deciding if he ought to kill them all. He had nothing in particular against Skavengers, but it annoyed him that he had been searching for so long and all he had found was these mangy annoying mutts.

Hope swooped and grabbed one of the crossbow wielders in a paw, yanking him off the ship and holding him. He had been incautious and took a few more crossbow bolts right in the chest, but none of them gave him more than scratches as his scales stopped them dead in their flight.

The dark dragon examined his prize, seeing fear in the Skavenger's expression. The thing stank of alcohol and unwashed fur. It still held a crossbow and wore a cutlass, but used neither of them. Skavengers had much shorter fur than the cold dwelling wolves. It made them look smaller and less graceful, even though they were essentially the same creatures. They also had orange fur, instead of the brown more common in wolves. It had been many ages ago when the Skavengers had began to turn to piracy, and they had adapted well over time to the cramped conditions of a ship and the heat of the sun above the clouds. They could almost be considered their own race now.

More yelling and the sound of a cannon firing brought Hope back to the situation. The smaller ships were lining up against him now, and it was one of them who had fired a cannon early this time. Hope held up his captive for them to see.

" _Do not attack me again. Tell me where to find the dragon Chronicler or you all die, starting with this one here."_

He did not expect a response, and all he got was a barrage of insults. No matter. These beasts wouldn't know where to find the Chronicler anyway. Soon the two smaller ships launched their broadside cannons at him, about fifty cannonballs in total. Hope created a wall of ice around himself and listened, hearing the metal crash into his defences. The ice almost cracked totally, but it held firm for the entire onslaught and he heard the order to reload.

Hope let the ice fall to the sea, and then he dropped his Skavenger as well, listening to it scream as it plummeted down. He would waste no more time being defensive.

Hope accelerated down to one of the smaller ships, running along it's underside to the main propeller. He grabbed it and tore it off in one movement. A Skavenger with a sword came swinging down on a rope, followed by another one who crawled along the hull guiding a replacement propeller. Hope smacked both of them off the ship with a single swipe of his tail, then he punched a hole in the side of the ship and breathed fire inside.

There were screams, he increased the heat of his fire until he was certain the ship would catch alight. Skavenger ships were made of wood and only sometimes had vital points reinforced with metal. Easy enough to burn.

Leaving that ship to its own devices Hope moved on to the second small ship. As he landed on the mast a hail of cannonfire from the largest ship tore through the sails, barely missing him but crippling the second ship too. Skavengers were used to fighting land based towns or ships which travelled by sea. A flying fire breathing dragon was not part of their normal battle scenario. A single dragon could probably wreak havoc with their entire fleet. The location and nature of the Skavenger's home had always been kept secret by captured pirates. Hope might have been the first dragon to ever see it. No wonder they had been so quick to try and chase him away.

The foolish Skavengers could destroy each other without too much help from him, but Hope was impatient. He swooped down to the main deck of the smaller ship, forming a boulder around himself just before he landed. The weight broke straight through the ship, tearing it in half and sending it falling. Hope snapped his wings open, not willing to go down with it. He pulled the arrow from his injured wing while also looking to make sure the first ship was completely ablaze. It was, and slowly sinking towards the sea far below. Skavengers were jumping out or piling into little lifeboats. The lifeboats had large balloons on top of them, Hope would be surprised if they could actually fly at all, but he'd let them try it. If their little ship did fly he might even be impressed enough to let the lucky ones on it survive.

There was only one ship remaining, the biggest one. Hope considered it thoughtfully, it was no threat to him. Perhaps he could amuse himself with it. It might take his mind off the pain in his wings while he waited for them to heal.

He gathered up a storm of lightning around him and let it lance through the ship. Some of the wood was scorched, but the structure as a whole was mostly undamaged. Everyone in it would probably be dead now though. A few more Skavengers fell past him, along with several broken lifeboats.

Hope landed on the side of the ship and clambered his way up, his claws digging into the wooden planks. He stepped onto the deck, looking around to see if any pests were alive. One Skavenger ran at him immediately, it was smoking from the aftereffects of lightning, driven mad by fear and pain. Hope smacked its sword away and used his wingtip to throw the thing straight off the edge.

One other Skavenger was still standing, a significantly bigger one than any of the others. He also had a big hat, and a jewel encrusted sword. Hope growled threateningly.

"You mad dragon!" The Skavenger yelled at him. His voice was gruff and full of absolute fury. "Look what you did! You're gonna pay!"

Hope snarled and began to stalk towards him. The captain backed away slightly, holding his sword out in front of him.

"You better run right now dragon, the fleet will get here soon. We've got dragon hunting boats that are gonna cut you down if you don't scram like the coward you are!"

" _If they arrive before I'm done then I'll kill them too."_ Hope said coldly.

"Well I'm going down with my ship, and I'll make sure that you do too! Nobody kills my men and gets away with it!"

With a roar the Skavenger charged at him. Hope chuckled, gathering ice magic and shooting a lethally sharp spear from his maw. The Skavenger tried to turn, but the ice still hit him, impaling him and knocking him onto his back. Hope laughed and finished him off with another ice spear.

Ships were coming, they must have seen the fire and heard the canons, even if they hadn't realised it was a dragon attack. Hope looked over as at least thirty ships formed into an attack formation and made their way over to investigate. He had a few minutes before they arrived, time enough to have a look around this place.

The ship smelled, but from a Volteer-ish perspective of curiosity it was impressively well designed. If only moles didn't hate flying so much they might have been able to learn a lot from the design.

Spyro, not Hope, was the one who looked over the side of the ships, seeing dozens if not hundreds of pipes down there for venting steam. What was the steam coming from? How was the ship floating?

Spyro went belowdecks, looking at the carnage that Hope had caused. He didn't like Skavengers very much, but seeing the still forms burned by lightning made him feel slightly sick. Hope was willing to indulge him for now, but only as long as Spyro kept on being curious rather than giving in to guilt or horror.

There was an engine room for powering the propellers, and here Spyro found the source of the steam. The Skavengers were using mana crystals to heat water, turning the water into steam, and using that to power their propellers. It was very clever, for a bunch of vicious pirates. Even Volteer had only ever made vague experiments with this sort of device. Dragons had no need for such fancy machines, and most other technical accomplishments were feats of architecture and seigecraft. Still, maybe the moles could make better use of such inventions. If Hope didn't kill them before explaining it to them.

Spyro poked around at the engine, seeing the ventilation pipes to the outside of the ship. Then he noticed the room also contained a very well reinforced vat of some liquid, with pipes leading down to the gun decks. Breaking one of the pipes made a spillage of some clear fluid. Spyro smelled it curiously, it had a strong smell. It was uninteresting to touch, but it had to be for something important.

Spyro decided to try the obvious test, shooting a few sparks at the liquid and immediately getting an explosive facefull of fire as a result. He hurriedly snuffed out the flames before they could reach the tank. If fire got into that then the whole ship would explode. The liquid was highly flammable.

He wandered the lower rooms curiously, finding the cannon decks and stinky sleeping areas. He wondered how the ship kept afloat; probably with some sort of magic, but he wasn't going to have time to find out. The other ships would be coming to investigate, and Hope had more important things to do than stay here and kill them all.

The dark dragon crushed Spyro away back into the corners of his mind, wishing he could purge him entirely but knowing that doing so would be impossible. For now he needed Spyro, and had no way to be rid of his other self. Hope stalked up to the top decks, checking his wings and seeing they were mostly healed. He'd probably grind them raw again soon but he would look forwards to a few hours of painless flight. Hope took off from the deck and began to head south, back towards land and dragons and Cynder.

He looked back at the approaching Skavenger fleet as he left them behind to sort out his handiwork. He noticed that one lifeboat which he had let live was floating under a large balloon, and was about to be picked up by other ships. How amusing.

Hope had failed in his first goal, of finding proof in the White Isle that he and Cynder were destined to be together. He would need some other way, or he would need to gather his courage and face her. How frustrating.

Hope beat his wings slowly as he flew back across the ocean. His thoughts were in turmoil now, he wasn't sure what to do or where to go. This was all Malefor's fault. Why had that accursed dragon had to return? Hope had been biding his time with Spyro for over a decade now, waiting for the perfect moment to eclipse him and declare himself ruler of Warfang. It would have been quick and simple, with a relatively small amount of bloodshed. Spyro liked all of the guardians, so Hope would have let them live if they served him. Most of the annoying young dragons and dragonesses in the city would have been killed, along with Altia and a few other individuals who Spyro had disagreed with in the past. No genocide or massacre, just executing some troublemakers.

But Malefor had spoiled all of that, riling up the dragons and even trying to destroy Hope completely. At this rate he might need to start a war with the other purple dragon for control of the world.

Hope sighed. He didn't want a difficult fight, he only wanted himself and Cynder to be able to enjoy a perfect world together. That world did not have Malefor, or Ember or anyone in besides the two of them; really. Some of Cynder's precious friends if she asked him, although now Imperia was gone Hope doubted that she'd care much for anyone else.

He needed to go to Cynder, and soon. But for now… Hope was alone.

* * *

Cyril looked up from a long list of names, neatly written by his claw dipped in ink. He sighed and rubbed his forehead, accidentally getting ink on his scales. The ice guardian stood up and stretched, then opened the door.

"Sheer!"

The ice dragoness he'd called for opened her own door and looked at him. "Yes sir? I'm finishing the report for Terrador."

"Did anything worthy of reporting happen?" Cyril asked.

"Of course not, and Terrador knows that as well as we do. But I want to make it a thorough report anyway."

"I approve. If something is worth being done by an ice dragon then it's worth being done perfectly." Cyril smiled. "However I have a more important task. Please go find Cynder and Ignitus, ask them to come to me in the small meeting chamber so that we can finalise locations to search for Spyro. I have over a hundred volunteers but I need to know where they're going before I can sort them into groups."

"Of course." Sheer bowed. "Anyone else I can fetch for you?"

Cyril shook his head. "I'll talk to Terrador, Volteer and…" He looked irritated. "And Malefor."

"What about Flare and Imperia?"

"Flare can come if she wants, although I don't expect she'd have much to add. And as for Imperia, she has no right to say anything after what she's done."

"But she knows Spyro better than most of us, and she's smart."

Cyril huffed. "Fine. You gather the others. I'll speak to Imperia now, just in case she can redeem herself by being useful."

Sheer bowed again and walked away. Working with Cyril was a thankless and deeply annoying task, but she believed that ice dragons had a duty to help each other, and Cyril was the foremost ice dragon in Warfang. If there were too few young ice dragons in Warfang then it'd be someone's duty to bear a child for Cyril, and that duty would probably be hers. She didn't mind that idea too much, although he certainly wouldn't have been her first choice of mate. Cyril didn't have a work life, he was simply always in his irritable and bossy mode. He had never sought out a mate of his own volition, he was far more concerned with his job and his usual duties. Happily for him there were enough ice dragons who _were_ capable of romantic love that he didn't need to do that duty for his race.

Duty was important to Sheer as well. When she was working she would be just as cold and distant as Cyril; and she tended to have even more attention to detail, but at least she knew how to have a night out with her friends.

The ice dragoness decided to look for Cynder first, as she'd probably be the hardest to find. Malefor she'd probably leave till last, as even though she didn't want to admit it she was quite intimidated by the idea of talking to him.

Cyril, meanwhile, was walking down the staircase to the cells below the dragon temple. He didn't like these cells very much, they were too close to the centre of power in the city for his taste, however they had only ever been used for dragons, and only for short periods of time before a better location could be found. The idea of common criminals, or even more cultured and polite prisoners like Imperia, being kept so near to a place of such importance irritated him. The presence of these cells degraded the noble positions of the dragons in the temple. In large part it was due to Cyril himself that these prisons were so rarely used, and he considered that a satisfying victory; incomplete though it was.

These thoughts in his head he couldn't quite wipe the snobbish expression from his face before the prisoners in the cell saw it.

Cyril froze in shock. Flare was in the cell with Imperia and the door was shut tight. The fire dragoness rose gracefully to her feet from where she had been sitting on the bed. Imperia flopped about at Flare's feet, not seeming bothered to get up.

"What? Flare? Imperia? What? This is against regulations! What in the name of the ancestors are you doing locked in the cell!?" He gaped for a few seconds, then continued before either of them could speak. "Are you imprisoned Flare? What did you do? Did you try to free Imperia!?"

Imperia began giggling.

Flare laughed, amused. "Cyril?"

The ice guardian stopped, blinking at the red dragoness. "Yes?"

"The door isn't locked."

Cyril tried the door, sure enough it opened. He frowned. "That is also against regulations!"

Imperia giggled up at them, clearly in a great mood and finding this very funny.

Flare nodded. "It is, but I've decided Imperia is here on a trust basis. We'll know if she leaves, and she knows better than to try."

"Do you have that authority?" Cyril asked sceptically.

"Yes I do." Flare said. "Check if you like, but Imperia is classified as a diplomatic prisoner due to her association with Malefor, and I'm classified as both her mate and a Guardian of Warfang. That means unless another guardian raises a concern I have final authority over the arrangements under which she's kept. Raise a concern if you must, Cyril. But please don't."

Imperia stopped her giggling after needing a moment to follow what Flare had said.

Cyril sighed. "I suppose that's not necessary. You seem to have things under control."

Flare smiled at him gladly. "Thankyou Cyril."

The ice dragon inclined his head in response to her gratitude before changing the subject. "You two seem to be getting along again."

"You almost sound happy for us." Flare teased him, before nodding. "But yes, I suppose I've forgiven her… mostly. She'll need to be on good behaviour though."

"Hmpf…" Cyril huffed slightly. "It'll take more than that for _me_ to forgive her, but I suppose for her close friends it's fine to not be so angry. Just don't let it cloud your judgement."

Flare nodded politely. "Of course."

"Did you come here just to tell us off?" Imperia asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, actually. Now that I mention judgement, I've in fact come here to get yours, Flare, and your expertise Imperia."

"Oh?" Imperia asked curiously.

"On what subject?" Flare specified.

"I'm organising the search parties for finding Spyro. I have roughly a hundred and twenty volunteers, I've made certain they're all capable and mature, I turned away almost as many dragons as I accepted. Do either of you have any important advice?"

"I don't think I have any special insight." Flare said. "Just think everything through before you send out the dragons, have them prepared for what to do if they find him or he finds them."

"Their safety is my first priority, no matter how much I like and respect Spyro my duty is to the citizens of Warfang and our territory. No one dragon is of more importance than our population." Cyril said gravely, with more than a little bit of pompousness.

"You're the best dragon for the job." Imperia said sincerely, smiling.

"Thankyou. Now, do you have anything important to say? Any places to search that we might not think of?"

Imperia nodded. "Definitely go over the western mushroom forests and the ruins of the old temple, I'm sure he'd go there to lay low for a while. Also keep in mind that he'll be able to travel long distances now that he has unlocked his wind element." Imperia smiled.

"Yes yes, it's the fifth guardian element. We can discuss it later I'm sure. Continue." Cyril said stiffly.

"I expect he's going to be drawn to familiar places and faces, send dragons to check on Shattershelf and keep a very close eye on Cynder, Sparx, Seizo and all of the young dragons he knows. The two dragonflies who raised Spyro in the swamp; I met them once and they were lovely, don't underestimate how important they might be to Dark Spyro. The volcano, the broken dam, all the places he might find familiar."

"Got it." Cyril nodded. Then he frowned again. "I haven't seen Sparx in quite some time. I have hardly missed that undersized nuisance, but I had better make sure he isn't getting up to trouble."

"I think he went to visit his parents, which only makes it more important you get a search party over there. And tell them to be nice and very careful, dragonflies are quite scared of us big beasts."

"One more thing. Malefor mentioned that Spyro will be looking for something, but when he started to give an example he stopped. What example was he going to give? It sounded important. And what do you think Dark Spyro will be looking for?"

"I'm going to guess that Dark Spyro will be looking for love. Don't bet everything on it, but something tells me that his every move will be made with one goal in mind, and that goal will be Cynder."

"We'll have her guarded." Cyril said immediately.

"You don't want to do that." Imperia warned. "She won't let you, and you don't want to drive her from the city by trying to force her into something. Please."

Cyril sighed. "Fine. And what is it that Malefor was looking for when he turned dark?"

Imperia sighed. "I'm afraid that's his story to tell. It's personal. You'll have to ask him about it."

"Is that all?" Cyril asked.

Imperia nodded. "I hope so. Good luck, and if you need me then I'm here."

"Not happening." Flare said immediately, and Cyril nodded in agreement.

"I'll talk to the others now and get this started." Cyril said. "And Flare is right, you're not going anywhere." He turned and walked back up the stairs.

* * *

By the time Cyril made it to the meeting chamber Sheer had gathered all of the others he had asked for, Cyril nodded to Terrador, Volteer, Ignitus and Cynder. Malefor got a half nod, which Cynder thought was generous.

She wasn't totally sure why they'd all been called, she'd rather expected Cyril to do all of this himself. Malefor seemed similarly surprised, and a bit tired. He sat near to Cynder, nodding slightly to her before looking to the Guardians.

Cyril cleared his throat. "We have about a hundred and twenty volunteers, all qualified and capable dragons. My current plan is to divide them into search parties of four or more dragons. Most of the group will be dedicated to the mushroom forests and dragon temple where Spyro was a child. A group will also go to Spyro's dragonfly adoptive parents. Other scouting teams will be sent to Shattershelf and some of the small towns in Warfang territory. Does anyone else have suggestions?"

"The catacombs?" Volteer offered.

"A fine suggestion. I'll send a team there, two if I can spare the numbers. Also to the volcano and to the broken dam."

"The volcano is a strong possibility. It's near to Warfang and has significance to him." Malefor agreed.

"Imperia told me that Dark Spyro will almost certainly be seeking Cynder." Cyril said.

They all looked to the black dragoness, who shrugged. "Fine, I'll be one of the best prepared to help him. It's going to be much easier if he comes to me."

The others nodded thoughtfully, although Terrador had a concerning thought. "That means he might be coming straight here to the heart of Warfang. We'll need to be careful."

Cynder smiled. "Careful is my usual mood, but you're right about us needing to be ready for him to show up in Warfang."

Ignitus cleared his throat. "This is almost certainly linked to the reason I am here. I found a book which appeared to prophecy the future. In the book were two pictures that worried me greatly, worried me enough to make me leave the island where my library is hidden."

"Pictures?" Volteer asked with interest.

Ignitus nodded. "The first showed a black dragoness crying in a dark cell, and the second showed two purple dragons laying side by side in a ruined city. The purple dragons looked dead, and the city… it looked like Warfang."

"I see…" Malefor said thoughtfully.

"At first I thought that it was you and Spyro on top of Cynder's fortress, while Cynder cried in a prison below the fortress. That seems to have not been the case, as the future I feared did not take place atop the fortress."

"Although things certainly still went pretty badly." Cynder admitted.

"Indeed, but at least you are all alive." Ignitus said with a reassuring smile.

"For now." Malefor said grimly.

Terrador cleared his throat. "This is valuable information, although all of our legends have said that future telling is unreliable at best. So because the image of the black dragoness appeared first do we assume that that happens first? And if so can we prevent the second image by preventing the first one?"

"Possibly." Ignitus said. "Although it's impossible to tell for certain."

"I'll make sure not to cry in any dark places." Cynder said, smiling slightly. But the idea that the death of Spyro was already prophesised sent a chill of fear and dread through her. Still it wasn't going to happen, not while she was still here to stop it.

"All the more reason why we should leave Warfang." Malefor said. "Both Cynder and myself."

Cyril nodded. "I think that would be wise."

"I think we should wait for the search parties to return before sending anyone else off. In which case it's all the more important we finish this meeting and get them underway as soon as possible. If they leave tomorrow morning then they can have two days to search. Does that suit?"

The others all nodded, but then Cyril cleared his throat as he saw his opportunity to ask the question that had been on his mind for some time.

"Imperia mentioned something else, something Malefor started to tell us when we first talked about the search parties." Cyril looked to the purple dragon. "You were looking for something, something to do with all your power. What was it?"

"She didn't tell you?" Malefor asked curiously.

"No, she said it was personal. But I nevertheless want to know."

Malefor sighed. "It is, but as you're so insistent on knowing I'll tell you."

He cleared his throat.

"My dark side first appeared when I was roughly ten years old, too young to remember it properly, but I was told that when I'd get angry I'd lash out violently with shadowy unknown magic. Medicine to dull pain helped repress it, and I was given a special room I could go to where I wouldn't be able to harm anyone. They allowed me to continue my studies, already seeing an unusual natural talent with magic in me."

"No unusual modesty." Cyril muttered.

"Hypocritical coming from you, my friend." Volteer told the ice dragon. "Now let's not interrupt."

Malefor glanced at them before continuing.

"My education progressed for the next thirty years with no significant incidents, and then I educated myself for another ten years once the old Guardians and all other dragons I could find had nothing more to teach me. I first became curious about the apes in those ten years, their society seemed… neater… than ours. At the time they were moral and united creatures, uncorrupted by my dark magic."

Malefor looked distant, sorting through his memories.

"Occasionally my dark side would show itself for a few seconds or minutes, but it was little more than an annoyance; until I got my first taste of war. It was hardly a war, a small dragon settlement to the north of Warfang was blamed for the murder of some cheetah children. I don't know if they did it or not, but when the cheetahs sent embassies who demanded that the killer come forward and face execution then through a number of unlucky accidents the embassies ended up torched." He chuckled slightly.

"It seems so stupid looking back, it's probably less than a footnote in dragon or cheetah history. They attacked the settlement of dragons and were beaten back, but not totally without losses. A force from Warfang was called in to chase the cats out of the land. I had no experience as a commander or a fighter in anything but training, so I was interested to have a combat experience."

The purple dragon sighed. "You may struggle to believe this, but what I saw horrified me. I was shocked when the cheetahs tried to fight us back, just like the dragons had done to them. The force of combat ready dragons went through them like a scythe through wheat, the village was destroyed. But they weren't leaving. For the next week they fought a guerrilla campaign against us from the forest, killing at least ten dragons in their sleep. Eventually our orders went from chasing them away to complete destruction. I had yet to lift a claw in this entire disaster, but eventually we caught them in a clearing where they made their final doomed stand. While the other dragons were busy one of the cheetahs slipped past the attack team to where the rest of us waited. I was the one in his way, and he ran at me brandishing a blood covered knife."

"We know better than to attack the cheetahs now." Terrador said as Malefor paused for breath. "Your story, and many like it, eventually taught us to let them live their lives in peace."

"Good…" Malefor said distractedly. He thought for a moment and nodded. "That's good. Now, the cheetah ran at me. Perhaps he would have run past me, or he was trying to take one dragon down with him. I don't know, but just before he reached me I overcame my fear and ran him through with a spike of ice. The first sentient thing I ever killed. It wasn't even the Dark Master who did the deed."

"But the dark side does come in times of stress or need." Cynder said thoughtfully. "Spyro has shown that."

"You're right. Early on that is how it works, but going through a week of fear and stress, seeing the deaths and then ending it by killing a cheetah… that triggered a more permenant shift, the sort of shift Spyro is experiencing right now."

"So that's the story?" Cyril asked with a frown.

"Not all of it." Malefor said. "After the Dark Master took over he wanted to be alone for a while. He went after cheetahs and killed them, wanting to experience that feeling for himself. He found it boring, so he killed a few of the hunting team dragons too. Then he vanished away into ape territory before anyone could even figure out what was going on. He came back within a week, though, and this time he was looking for something."

"Looking for what?" Volteer asked, fascinated.

"My biological parents." Malefor said softly. "And if Spyro doesn't know then Dark Spyro may want to do the same thing."

"Neither Spyro or I know anything about where we came from." Cynder said, then she looked to the Guardians. "Unless you know?"

"Your egg was brought to us by a lightning dragoness, but she never claimed to be your mother, she disappeared not long after giving you to the sanctuary of eggs and we heard reports she'd been killed in the war with the apes. I'm sorry I don't have anything more to tell you." Terrador said softly to Cynder.

Cynder absorbed that for a long moment. She had been brought to the temple by a lightning dragoness, her mother perhaps? But perhaps not… She had to have a mother somewhere, somehow… but the only dragon who might have known was apparently dead. Cynder felt a flash of sadness for that dragoness, but there were more pressing matters to focus on.

"What about Spyro's egg?" Cynder asked.

"That interests me too." Malefor said. "The search of my dark side proved… disastrous. Do you have any leads on Spyro?"

"Again, sadly not." Terrador sighed. "I found his egg myself, buried in soft earth about a mile outside of a small dragon village where the inhabitants had all been slaughtered by apes. The ground felt relatively firm, but the egg came to the surface in a rainstorm. I cannot be sure if the egg had been there a day or a hundred years. I just don't know."

"A hundred years? Can eggs really survive that long?" Cynder asked curiously. Spyro might have, indirectly, been much much older than her. No matter, they'd been born at about the same time.

Ignitus took that question. "Eggs can survive for a long time. It depends on where they are kept. The mushroom forest, for example, has a high concentration of magic. That's why the egg sanctuary was built there, so far from Warfang, in the first place and that's also why I put Spyro's egg in the stream there when I… when I abandoned him. I should have done more, but at least I put his egg in a place where, if it needed to, it could have survived safely for centuries if not longer." Ignitus sighed softly and then smiled at them. "I am trying to stop blaming myself for that, but it's not easy."

"We all failed those eggs." Volteer said. "Although to be fair our defences were excellent, impeccable, thorough, suitable and quite effective. It's just that they were avoided by the apes because… well… because Imperia gave them secret information. So, though I don't like to say it, if it hadn't been for _her_ then the eggs would have been perfectly safe. Don't blame yourself Ignitus."

"And even then it wasn't her fault." Malefor said defensively. "Blame the Dark Master for giving the order, and then blame me for being too weak and useless to stop him."

"Enough blaming." Terrador said firmly. "We need to help Spyro. Everything else can be set aside for now. Malefor, what happened when your dark side tried to find his parents?"

"He found them." Malefor said. "Or he found some dragons who he thought were them."

"And?" Cyril asked.

"There were three." Malefor said. "And even he knew that that wasn't how parents worked. Open relationships happen certainly, but there was one who was spare and he didn't know which was his real mother. In hindsight I'm not even totally certain that they were my real parents at all, but they could have been. The fire drake said he was my father, and then he said that the ice dragoness was my mother. But then _she_ denined it and said that a lightning dragoness was my mother. When the Dark Master questioned the lightning dragoness she also claimed to be my mother."

Cynder raised an eyebrow, trying to picture the situation. "So how did you, I mean, how did the Dark Master figure out who was telling the truth?"

Malefor laughed bitterly. "He didn't. He had no idea how to handle the situation, and so he panicked. He brought the three of them together, and soon they started arguing. He didn't know what was happening or how to stop it, and soon his anger got the better of him and he killed all three of them."

"I see." Cyril said, not surprised but still rather disturbed to hear of three dragons being killed due to something like that.

"I think that my real mother was the ice dragoness, but I don't know, and I can't even remember their names so I'm in no real position to judge any of them." Malefor sighed. "The only good to come of this was that after killing them my dark side retreated back into me, letting me come back. He was gone for most of a year, time which I spent trying to design a prison in convexity in which to trap him."

"I see." Terrador said in understanding. It made a lot of sense.

"I needed the help of the old Guardians of the time. I let them imprison me in the safe room made for me, and they let me study without undergoing a trial for my crimes. It worked for both parties… for a while. I completed my research and gave the plans to the guardians as a last resort, but not long afterwards the Dark Master regained control over my body."

He shrugged wearily.

"The Guardians tried to put him on trial, but he broke their safe room apart. His power was almost uncontainable by that stage. They declared him exiled, not able to bring themselves to try and kill him when there was a hope I could still return, so they let him leave without trying my plan. But it was the Dark Master who returned, with an army of corrupted apes. My design worked and the Guardians trapped me in Convexity, but not without cost. Many dragons died and the apes and dragons were plunged into a war that continues even to this day. Although I guess the apes are more or less defeated now. So that's my story, that's how I came to be where and what I am now. It's how I know most of what I know about Dark Spyro's likely behaviour."

"This has been quite enlightening." Terrador said. "Thankyou for telling us."

Malefor nodded. "I hope it helps. We're going to need all the help we can get."

* * *

 **Writing this chapter was a lot of fun, although editing it ended up taking a lot longer than I had expected. I enjoy writing scenes with Hope in them, and finally getting to solidly explain Malefor's history is something I've been looking forwards to doing. I hope it was worth the wait!**

 **I think that's about all I have to say. Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D**

 **-4Dragons**


	48. Looking for Trouble

**It's been way too long since I've posted a chapter, and I'd like to apologize for the hiatus. Aside from always updating this story on Fridays I can't predict when I'll be posting; but I do promise that there won't be a wait as long as this one again.**

 **I have a song for Flare, it doesn't fit anywhere in this chapter but it's a graceful and mysterious song which suits her very well: Shadows, by Lindsey Stirling**

* * *

Cynder watched from one of the rooftops of Warfang as group after group of dragons took off from the walls and began to fly to their searching areas. The dragons chattered and joked as they flew, and Cynder was sure Cyril would be regretting agreeing to this plan. She wondered if they'd joke less once they were out of sight of Warfang, if once they had no chance of backup or help they'd become more cautious and follow the Official Warfang Searching Procedure.

As far as she knew Cyril had made up the Official Warfang Searching Procedure on the spot, but it was all basic common sense as far as she was concerned so she was fine with that: maintain a distance of no more or less than five dragon lengths from each other, never walk or fly for more than five minutes without checking for threats and making sure that nobody is missing. Cynder would have also taught them about how to fly among trees to stay out of sight or how to move silently through a forest, but some of them would be searching open areas so she supposed it didn't really matter. None of the dragons was wholly stupid, she was sure; even if she doubted that any of them were really capable of locating and tracking Dark Spyro.

Cynder doubted that Dark Spyro was going to be found by a search party, and even if he was then by the time it had been reported he would have probably moved on. The first time they'd get a good idea of what Dark Spyro was up to would probably be whenever he decided to make a direct attack on Warfang. With that in mind Terrador had organised for many of the moles and dragons who were staying to hide in the underground, right after they had searched it with maximum priority to make sure that Dark Spyro wasn't waiting down there. Warfang was now partially evacuated and those who hadn't already taken shelter were ready to do so the moment they felt unsafe.

The black dragoness stood and shook herself, she then jumped off the roof to the street three floors below her. She landed and stretched, catlike; she'd been sitting around for most of the morning and she needed something to do. The calm before the storm wasn't her favourite moment.

It was nice to walk the streets of Warfang when they were nearly empty. It reminded her of the romantic evening she'd had with Spyro in her first few days back at Warfang. It felt so long ago…

Currently it was daytime, but the quiet streets suited Cynder well, and it was nice to know that the fear in the eyes of the occasional passer-by was not fear of her but simply fear in general. Small things to take pleasure in, but now Spyro was gone she had to find fun somewhere. She refused to be miserable, not now she'd decided that having fun felt so much better. That was one of Imperia's beleifs that had meshed especially well with Cynder's personalty.

Cyril and Terrador would be overseeing the search parties departing, Imperia would be in the dungeons. She had no idea where Flare and Volteer would be, possibly with Imperia, and she didn't really want to talk to Malefor. Cynder began to wander towards the Temple, there would be training areas there. Beating a target into kindling might be just what she needed right now.

Before she'd gone very far Cynder head someone shout her name. A quick brush of wind over the shouter told Cynder who it was. The voice and body shape of a young dragoness were easy enough to recognise, while the way that she walked and the heart shaped tail blade were a total giveaway. She smiled and turned, waiting for Ember to catch up. The pink dragoness had a red flower tucked behind her horns and while her expression was slightly sad she still returned Cynder's smile.

"Hello Ember, what's up?" Cynder asked, she tilted her head. "I take it you don't want to evacuate to the underground?"

Ember stuck her tongue out, good natured annoyance crossing her face. "Ew, no. It's so stuffy and dusty and old. I mean I _will_ go down there once I really have to… but I won't like it."

"I liked it down there." Cynder said. "It was big and quiet and not as dusty as you seem to think. I've only been down there a few times, but I found it kind of relaxing."

"Dust makes me sneeze purple fire." Ember complained.

"Purple?" Cynder raised an eyebrow. "How can fire be purple? Besides I assumed you'd love to have purple fire, considering how much you like Spyro."

"I don't know how it's purple, and I'd be fine with the colour aside from that it irritates my nose. I think I have a dust allergy or something."

"Right." Cynder nodded. "So what were you up to? I like the flower by the way. It's very pretty."

"Oh, thanks…" Ember brushed it with a paw. "I was saying goodbye to my parents."

"Oh…" Cynder realised now why Ember had been looking a bit downhearted. "So they're joining the search?"

"Yes, they left a few minutes ago. My mother put the flower on my horns. I'm sure they'll be fine…" She trailed off with a sigh.

"They're in the same search group then?"

"Yes they are, and I'm happy about that. They'll look after each other. It's just…" Ember looked at the ground.

"I'm sure they'll be fine. They'll take safety precautions and Dark Spyro probably won't be really aggressive anyway."

"I know. I just don't like goodbyes… especially if I'm scared I might not see them again."

Cynder wasn't sure what to say to that. She wanted to comfort Ember, but anything she said would probably be a lie or would make her feel worse.

Ember shook her head and forced herself to smile. "I will though, and they'll be fine. Getting some time out of the house might be just what they need to get over Spark; and also me going missing." She looked thoughtful. "Going on an adventure with you has really helped me with that. I wish he could have seen it…"

Cynder watched Ember swing back and forth between happy and sad, she too felt a pain of sadness in her chest at the mention of Spark. "He was so brave; he saved my life, and so did you."

"I know." Ember nodded.

"Are you okay?" Cynder asked, offering Ember a reassuring wing.

Ember nodded, gladly stepping under Cynder's wing. When standing the pink dragoness was taller at the shoulder, but Cynder still could comfortably wrap her wing over her back. "I'm fine. Adventuring and exciting things helped me not feel too awful. Even the bad news like Spyro going dark and Imperia getting nearly killed… somehow it still sort of helped. Y'know what I mean? Are _you_ okay? You can talk about things if it'll help."

Cynder smiled. "I'm fine. I tend to deal with emotions by breaking things. Imperia and I did the whole 'talking' thing whenever we met and that was nice. Oh, and after I fought you and hurt Flora I cried a lot which helped me feel a bit better. But mostly I break things."

"I see." Ember nodded. "I definitely prefer the talking method. And did you really cry after you won the fight with me? I certainly cried after I lost it, but I hadn't imagined you might be doing the same thing."

"I felt really bad about what I'd done, so yeah I cried." Cynder shrugged.

"Not even you can be tough all the time." Ember said.

"Pfft, of course I can." Cynder said with a grin, showing that she was joking. "I cried very tough tears. They sizzled when they hit the floor."

Ember giggled. "I can picture that. Drip… Psssh! You could have set a building on fire."

Cynder laughed. "I'll take that as a compliment. So I'm heading up to the Dragon Temple training areas, want to come with me? We can beat up some practice dummies together."

"You're a bit weird Cynder." Ember said warmly.

Cynder tilted her head questioningly. "Is that a no? I understand. You solve your problems differently to me."

Ember laughed. "Don't worry! It's a yes. I already wanted to learn your violent ways, after all."

* * *

In another part of Warfang Malefor was standing outside of Terrador's office. The purple dragon knew that Terrador was out at the moment, but that was fine. He wasn't here to see the earth guardian.

While a guardian was out of the temple their assistant would typically take charge of their duties, and even though Terrador was only overseeing the scout parties and would be back in a few hours that hopefully meant that his office would be occupied by an elusive and interesting dragon who Malefor had wanted to meet for a while now.

He knocked on the door and a voice invited him inside.

Malefor stepped into the office and smiled to the young drake who was sitting at the desk. He was greeted by a look of terror, before the green dragon adjusted the huge set of glasses he was wearing and bowed to him politely.

"Hello, my name is Seizo and I'm apprentice earth guardian. How may I help you?"

"I've heard about you, I'm pleased to meet you." Malefor said.

At that moment a green dragoness walked into the room from behind Malefor, she was carrying two bags in her mouth that smelled like they contained food. She saw him and squeaked in terror, dropping the bags and scrambling around the room to be beside Seizo. Malefor looked at her with curiosity, noticing the smoky black pattern on her scales. She was no earth dragon, and considering her shyness he had no doubt that this was Miasma, the poison and shadow dragon.

Seizo stood up, putting himself between Malefor and Miasma. "What do you want?" He spoke in his best challenging voice, although he was clearly feeling out of his depth in this situation.

"I don't want anything." Malefor said soothingly. "I was just curious to meet you for myself. Imperia told me a lot about most of the young dragons in Warfang, and you two were particularly interesting."

"I see…" Seizo said hesitantly. He sat down, but still stayed between Malefor and Miasma. "I'm pleased to meet you too, I guess. Just a bit rattled."

"I do have that effect." Malefor said. "It's annoying. It makes it harder to have efficient conversations." He picked up the dropped meals and placed them on the table as well, but neither Seizo or Miasma made any move to eat.

"Right… I guess it would." Seizo nodded.

"I hear you like chess?" Malefor said. "We should play sometime."

Seizo hesitated, then reached under Terrador's desk and pulled out a chessboard. "Now?"

Malefor chuckled. "What was that doing in here?" He aligned the board between them both on the desk and sat down.

"I'm here a lot, and Terrador knows how much I like having a chessboard to play with." Seizo told him. He switched lenses on his glasses, looking more comfortable now that he was in more familiar territory. He gestured to Malefor. "You can move first."

Malefor did so, looking thoughtful. "Smart people play chess. That what Imperia keeps telling me, she seems to find it funny."

Seizo shrugged. "I wouldn't know what everyone else believes. I just really like it." He responded with his own move. "It helps me think."

"Same here." Malefor agreed. "So you were the one who guessed I'd try to capture Spyro at Shattershelf?"

Seizo shook his head. "Not really, I never got that far through your plan, I just saw that you were setting up for something big and I tried to get Warfang there to stop you. We were so busy trying to dismantle your plan that we put ourselves in the perfect position for you to swoop in and get what you'd wanted all along."

"Winning is so predictable. Every time Spyro and Cynder had a success it was obvious what they were going to do. The only matter of chance was making sure they heard about Shattershelf in time to attend the show, and in fact they even got there ahead of me." Malefor told him. "Thwart one part of the nefarious scheme and move on to the next. I wanted them to do that; and they did. At the end the best game piece you have is always yourself, so you must plan everything to make sure the only link which really matters in the chain is you."

"And Imperia." Seizo observed. "She was a link which you made far too important. She told Cynder where to go looking for you."

"I made a few mistakes, but trusting Imperia was not one of them. Not bringing Cynder with me after I defeated her was the mistake which caused this whole mess." Malefor sighed. "Overall Imperia's value was greater than her risk. Cynder's value is practically infinite, but her risk is infinite as well."

He frowned at the chessboard, the game was progressing quickly and he was finding himself constantly on the defensive; he needed to play more aggressively in response. He moved his pieces up, aiming to take Seizo's king and win the game directly. He looked up and across at Miasma. The green dragoness was watching the game with interest, but hanging back and being as silent as possible.

"Miasma, isn't it? Imperia has told me a bit about you too. Your elements are incredibly rare, do you have any idea where they come from?"

Miasma cowered away from him and shook her head. Malefor didn't press her any further, but she surprised him after several seconds by responding. Her voice was so faint he had to strain to hear it.

"They say that my elements were made by you, they say that I'm corrupted." There was a faint hard edge to her voice, despite how quietly she spoke.

Malefor heard it and guessed the reason behind it. Judging by how Warfang had responded to Cynder he could guess that the strange and dangerous poison and shadow elements would have been unpopular.

If it was assumed that he had himself created Miasma's elements then things would only be worse. He briefly pictured how Miasma would feel, not being trusted, everyone always wondering if she was behind an illness or sudden death; being thought of as a lesser mutant dragon and not even really knowing why…

He stopped thinking those thoughts quickly. He'd estimated how she felt and while he did feel sympathetic he didn't want to dwell on it. Following those thoughts to their conclusion would drive him mad, and he'd spent too long in convexity putting himself back together to go mad again now.

"I sincerely don't know where your elements originate. I didn't create them." Malefor told her. "I have heard stories of them from when I was young, but Cynder was the first dragon of that kind I saw and her elements are all natural."

"I see…" Miasma said.

Seizo touched tails with her encouragingly, then he smiled. "Want to take over this chess game?"

Miasma stared at him with horror, and Seizo gestured to the board. "Trust me; you can win."

Malefor also looked down at the board, despite his cleverness he was quite out of practice with chess and used to making his decisions over a very long time period while meditating in Convexity. Seizo was taking control of the game easily and Malefor saw that he was outmatched. He sighed. "You definitely play at a higher level than I do. Perhaps I should concede."

Seizo shrugged. "You could still win if you played perfectly and your opponent threw the game."

Malefor chuckled. "I think we could swap sides and you'd still beat me. Don't worry your point is proven. You win. No need for me to embarrass myself by letting Miasma finish the game."

"Actually I was just trying to do something nice for her." Seizo said evenly.

Malefor looked at the earth dragon. He was nowhere near as intimidating and confident as Cyril, but he was just as hard to read and probably cleverer. As for Miasma, she had a vast amount of potential, even if currently she was doing her best to seem as unimportant as possible.

Warfang contained interesting dragons.

Malefor relaxed slightly, realising he had gone tense as he'd noticed how badly he was losing the game. It was not an important game all things considered, but he was still surprised to have lost. He smiled at them.

"I have only goodwill for the two of you, and you certainly both lived up to Imperia's high opinion of you." He stood up and headed to the door. "I'll leave you alone now and I'll try not to impose again." He nodded to them both before walking out of the room.

That had gone relatively well. It was sort of nice to do things just for the sake of doing them; without it being part of some master plan. It reminded him of the time before his dark side; it had been thousands of years since he'd done something out of simple curiosity apart from talking to Imperia. Physically doing something, meeting someone new, it felt like living again.

The thought of Imperia tempted him. It had been some time since the two of them had been able to properly have a conversation. In fact he'd only ever talked to her face to face in situations when something urgent was going on. That seemed like something that ought to change.

* * *

The way back to Imperia's cell was easy enough to remember, and happily the guards were easy enough to pass. He simply nodded his head to them and they stepped aside. One looked fearful, but the other returned the nod with calm politeness.

Malefor descended the steps and emerged in Imperia's cell room. He hadn't been all the way down here last time, so a small part of his mind had been idly wondering exactly what sort of dungeon they'd imprison an errant guardian in.

It was nicer than he had expected, about as nice as the room he'd locked Cynder and Ember in. Yellowish stone, windows high on the wall, a simple bed, and a few books lying around. The door to the cell itself was slightly open.

Within the cell were two dragons; Imperia and Flare. Malefor bowed slightly to them both.

"My apologies if I'm interrupting something."

"You're not interrupting anything." Flare said, she swung the cell door open. "Warfang is on maximum level of alert. I ought to help Volteer supervise the moles evacuation but… here I am." She sighed. "Come and join us if you want."

"That doesn't seem the sort of thing to be dismissive about." Malefor observed.

"Blame me for requiring so much attention." Imperia said brightly. "I am deeply grateful to her though, I know that you all have a lot to do and it's not helped by there being one fewer guardian to lend help."

"Letting personal feelings get in the way of duty was what Ignitus always said was my biggest flaw." Flare said. "A flaw he admitted that he shared, but he did do his utmost to help me overcome it."

"My feelings just run me." Imperia laughed. "I feel like you two both try too hard to ignore your emotions. I mean, it works for me."

"You are in jail." Malefor pointed out immediately.

"But it's a _nice_ jail." Imperia responded. Then she turned serious for a moment. "Okay, things are really bad. Dark Spyro: that's at least half my fault. But I'd argue that's a result of me failing in my actions more than it's a result of my feelings leading me astray."

Flare made a sound of disapproval. "You make yourself hard to trust sometimes Imperia. I see you're your point about how following your emotions can be a good way to live, but you never do seem to learn anything."

"Speaking of trust…" Malefor said thoughtfully. "A few years ago Imperia told me that she thought you were onto her. She suspected that _you_ suspected her of… treachery I suppose. But she seemed almost glad. Clearly you never did betray her or me, but I've been wondering about it for years now."

"You know the trick that I used to try and knock out Dark Spyro?" Imperia said confidingly.

"No actually." Malefor raised an eyebrow. "You might have forgotten, but you dropped me through a hole in the floor. I was in no state to observe any tricks."

"Oh ok. Sorry about that…" Imperia glanced to Flare, as if seeking permission; the fire dragoness shrugged and gestured to Malefor. Imperia took this as being allowed to continue her line of conversation. "Well all I did was take away some of his air. It turns out air is made up of a good bit and a useless bit; so I took away the good bit from him, he was still breathing normally but he would have felt his head go funny like he was holding his breath. It would have made him faint if I'd been able to do it for long enough."

"Interesting." Malefor said, rather impressed. "I assumed that such a thing was possible in theory, but I hadn't learned how to do it. Congratulations on discovering a new use for wind magic."

"I had help." Imperia told him. "Help from Flare and from my sister. Between the three of us we worked it out and perfected it. Flare would make fires for us to put out. It's the only time in the last sixty or so years my sister has willingly had anything to do with me."

"When I found out Imperia's association with you I wanted her to have a way to protect herself. Something that would be an ace against even a creature who could completely outfight and overpower any normal dragon." Flare said.

"A way to prevent me from taking advantage of her." Malefor clarified. "Understandable. Although the idea of doing _that_ to any dragoness, or drake, is abhorrent to me."

"I figured." Flare said, nodding. "I don't know as much about you as I'd like. But I know just enough about your personality to allow you to stay in this city. If I thought you were dangerous, well…" She sighed. "I don't know what I'd do. I doubt I can kill you, but it'd definitely be my preferred option. No offence."

"None taken. If I was a normal dragon dealing with a dangerous freak of nature who had a history of violence then I too would be inclined to try and kill them; for the protection of everyone else."

"You're not a freak of nature though." Imperia said defensively.

Malefor chuckled. "By definition I am. I'm a highly abnormal dragon. It's easy enough to think of me that way, especially for the sake of an analogy. Don't worry though, I don't _feel_ like a freak."

"What do you feel like, then?" Flare asked.

Malefor considered the question. "Sometimes I feel like I'm the only being in the entire world with the intelligence and power to do the right thing. I feel like a saviour, the world bothers me with it's cruelty and imperfection. I feel like I'm the one destined to make it perfect, why else would I have so much more power than any other dragon?"

"I'd like to think I do the right thing in my own small way." Imperia sulked. "As do Flare and Terrador and Volteer and… maybe even Cyril too; in his own snobbish way."

Malefor nodded. "I agree. And I couldn't have come this far without your help Imperia. I only _sometimes_ feel like the only sane dragon in the world. It's a dangerous way to think, and I am aware of that. Other times I just feel happy. Like now." He smiled.

Flare returned the smile, but her concerns were far from satisfied. "I don't wish to offend, but why are you really working with us? I can't imagine you're here purely for the sake of Spyro and Cynder."

"In a way…" Malefor said thoughtfully. He gazed at Flare. "You were trained by Ignitus. You're a lot like him, you know. He asked me the same question."

"And what did you tell him?" Flare asked.

Imperia decided to answer that question; she put a paw on the fire dragoness' shoulder. "I'm sure you've guessed. You know me well enough. Our end goal is a perfect world for all of us."

Flare looked back and forth between them both, silently demanding a full explanation.

"Destroying the Dark Master and the dark sides of Spyro and Cynder has made and will continue to make this world a better place." Malefor said. "But after that there are other problems I would like to resolve."

"What are those, and how would you 'resolve' them?" Flare asked suspiciously.

"The dragon realms are fractured, and there is always conflict and mistrust, the risk of war festering around our society. I would like to see closer ties between the dragon civilisations."

"And rule them all." Flare finished for him. Malefor opened his mouth to object, but Flare waved a paw. "I'm not going to shoot down the idea. The Guardians were founded as a worldwide organisation, Imperia, Cyril and even Ignitus were not native dragons to Warfang. Our rank is known across all of dragonkind but right now we only have official authority within the walls of Warfang."

Flare looked distant and thoughtful.

"Because of that we have been recruiting our newer members almost exclusively from Warfang. I would see that changed. I don't like the idea of you alone ruling dragonkind, but a council with you, leaders of the other dragon societies, and the guardians…"

"Intruiging…" Malefor said. Flare surprised and impressed him with her ambition. "I think that could be an excellent arrangement."

"It would require a lot of effort though." Flare said. "Even you would have no guarantee of success… and that's where you want Spyro and Cynder to come in, isn't it? You're saving them so that you can use them."

"They would have the choice." Malefor said softly. "Forcing them to help me would end in a disaster. But if they did help their reputations would be a great asset, and the knowledge that there were two more dragons with similar abilities and a similar agenda to myself would discourage possible assassins."

"If and when we save Spyro we can talk about this more." Flare decided. "And don't make Spyro feel indebted to you, if he helps you he'd do it because he believed in what you're trying to create."

"There is a bit more." Imperia said. "The part that I'm not so keen on…"

"I've been hearing that a lot." Malefor frowned with slight annoyance. "The dragon ancestors are powerful, and if they've caused destruction and stagnation then they must be held accountable for it."

Imperia nodded. "That's reasonable; but frankly we don't know _how_ to punish the ancestors or what a world without them would look like. The notion discomforts me. I want the world to be happy, but I also don't want it to change too much…"

"I'll consider your view. There is a lot that I need to think about before finally deciding on my next goal."

Flare said nothing, her thoughts were unreadable. Imperia looked at the fire dragoness.

"What do you think?"

Flare sighed softly. "I think lots of things. But I always tell my students not to go looking for fights where there haven't been fights before. A fire that burns everything in it's path is an enemy to itself as well as it's surroundings. I'm not going to pretend that one rule applies to every situation, and it certainly might not apply to this situation, but it's worth keeping in mind: wildfires choke on their own destruction."

* * *

Hope watched the comings and goings of Warfang with keen eyes and a distant mind. Every time he saw a dragon with dark shaded scales his heart leapt, but it was never Cynder. Dozens of dragons were leaving the city, and the rest were retreating somewhere deeper inside; it was starting to look like a ghost city.

Hope stayed still, perched halfway up a tree on a small hill that gave him just enough view of the city. His dark purple colour wasn't ideal for camouflaging in a forest, but it was better now than Spyro's shiny bright scales had been. Nobody seemed to be searching the immediate surrounds of the city for him anyway.

Hope saw the search parties fly out, and he wondered where they were searching, and why. The White Isle with its knowledge was the only thing in the world that held any interest for him, and that was only because it was supposed to be a step closer to Cynder.

The branch cracked slightly under his claws, but he sighed quietly and relaxed. One failure was a poor start. Then again he'd killed Imperia too, and that was probably a failure. Two failures was an extra bad start. But none of the failures would matter so long as he didn't fail once he and Cynder were face to face.

He could wait if he had to, he wasn't sure what he was waiting for, but nightfall would be a start. He didn't care to go into Warfang during the daylight. Tonight he would try to explain everything to Cynder, he would show her how to accept her dark side. He didn't know how to do that, but he didn't want to wait any longer. Tonight was the night.

He must succeed.

* * *

Dusk came quickly to Warfang. Cynder took Ember home and the pink dragoness was sound asleep the moment she reached her bed.

Ember had tried hard and shown promise in their training session, but she had nowhere near Cynder's stamina and by the time they were done she was exhausted. Cynder had taken her through some strategy, environmental awareness and tested her reflexes. Teaching was kind of fun, and Ember was a great learner; but Cynder had been making up almost everything she said on the spot and they both knew it. Ember hadn't minded though.

Cynder contemplated trying to sleep as well; but she wasn't as tired. She slinked out of Ember's room and began to wander back towards the dragon temple. Ember's family weren't around to make it awkward, which Cynder was glad of. When she got tired she could just wander back to Ember's place and sleep anywhere without feeling embarrassed.

The sun had gone down, and most of the sky was hidden by Warfang's high buildings and walls. Cynder drew her wings tight around her body even though the cold of night was still hours away. She wandered upwards, maybe one of the guardians would be in the temple so she could talk to them.

* * *

There!

Hope felt his whole body fill with warmth and light, the sight of the black dragoness filled him with excitement and a thrill of nervousness.

Cynder was walking along below him. Hope breathed deeply, trying to calm himself. He stilled his wings and glided down towards her, but he didn't want her to notice him yet. He stayed outside her range of wind senses, she might notice a dragon flying but she hopefully wouldn't recognise him.

What should he do? How did the situation right now end up with the two of them kissing and swearing their eternal love to each other? He didn't know, but he had to start with something.

Hope circled a few times, seeing that Cynder was heading upwards in the city. He had some time to think. His eyes reluctantly left Cynder's mesmerising walk and came to rest on one of the city beacon towers. Nobody should be up there, and if anyone was then Hope could just kill them. It was the perfect place to get some time with Cynder uninterrupted.

He touched down on the balcony and looked inside. There was nobody there; just an empty fire pit. The beacon towers were almost never lit, mostly during storms or fog. Hope sighed quietly in relief and turned back out towards the city; he looked down and spotted Cynder again.

Taking courage from seeing her, even though seeing her was paradoxically also the thing taking away his courage; Hope made a flicker of energy, a small purple flame in his paw.

He blew on it, making it brighten and glow softly, then he threw it.

* * *

Cynder froze in midstep as a large purple spark landed a few metres ahead of her in the middle of the road. For a long second she remained perfectly still, not even breathing. None of her senses were picking anything up, no sounds or scents and nothing interfering with her wind senses.

A purple spark could only mean two dragons, and this did not feel like Malefor.

Cynder breathed in and then out calmly, looking up where the spark had come from.

There, on one of the city's tallest buildings. A dark dragon shape was standing, watching. She couldn't see their colour against the evening sky, but she was sure that they had sent the flame to her.

She spread her wings and crouched, leaping upwards and spreading her wings to glide. She flew a circle, weighing her options.

The thought of calling the guardians and Malefor and raising the alarm crossed her mind briefly; but Cynder abandoned that idea as quickly as it came. If anyone could deal with Spyro then it would be her. The only other dragon who she would have been confident having as backup was Spyro; and… if she was lucky… then Spyro would be there already and able to help her.

Gently the wind lifted her higher, letting Cynder see the darkened purple scales of the dragon. She swooped down to land softly on the beacon tower.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **-4Dragons**


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